Battled with Buckeyes: Rutgers women's basketball falls short in valiant effort against No. 10 Ohio State
The Rutgers women’s basketball team fell to Ohio State 77-63 at Jersey Mike’s Arena in its Big Ten home opener on Sunday. The Scarlet Knights (8-5, 0-2) never found a rhythm offensively against a stout Buckeyes (13-0, 2-0) defense that gives up approximately 54 points per game.
It was a chaotic start to the game for Rutgers, turning the ball over on 2 of its first 3 possessions. This trend would continue throughout the first quarter as the Knights could not break the pressure from No. 10 Ohio State.
Senior forward Destiny Adams took charge in the opening frame on both ends of the floor for Rutgers. On the offensive side of the ball, Adams tallied 12 of her team's 16 points while shooting 50 percent from the field. Defensively, Adams forced four turnovers, all offensive fouls on the Buckeyes.
Ohio State spread the ball well in the first quarter, with each of its five starters recording a basket. Cotie McMahon led the Buckeyes with 6 points on a perfect 2-for-2 from beyond the arc en route to a 23-16 lead to end the first quarter.
The second quarter was all Ohio State, outscoring the Knights 23-9, keeping both Adams and freshman guard Kiyomi McMiller quiet. McMiller has been on fire to start the season and the Buckeyes had a strong game plan to avoid the shifty guard. Ohio State held McMiller to just 4 points and four turnovers in the opening half.
With one half down, the Buckeyes led 46-25, with McMahon, Ajae Petty and Taylor Thierry all scoring double-figures.
Rutgers came out of the break firing on all cylinders, scoring 9 straight points to cut the deficit to just 12 points with approximately 3 minutes played in the second half. The Knights played a much more complete quarter, shooting 50 percent from the field while holding Ohio State to just 16 points on 5-for-15 shooting from the floor. Rutgers won the rebounding and scoring battles yet still faced a 62-45 deficit entering the fourth.
The Knights were successful even without both Adams and McMille, who found themselves on the bench for most of the third quarter with four personal fouls. Graduate student forward JoJo Lacey led the scoring for her squad with 5 points.
In the final frame, Rutgers began to find a bit of a groove offensively between McMiller and Adams, who scored 14 of their team’s 18 points in the quarter. With this, the Knights still came up short of pulling off an upset win against a top-ten team in the country.
Adams finished with a game-high 31 points and 17 rebounds to record her 5th double-double of the season. McMahon and Petty both scored a team-high 16 points for the Buckeyes.
Despite the loss, there is still much to take away from a close game against a strong team in Ohio State. Rutgers played well defensively, especially on the perimeter, allowing just 20 percent shooting from beyond the arc and forcing 20 turnovers.
“We came into the game wanting to be aggressive on the defensive end,” said head coach Coquese Washington. “Just being really active on their drives, knowing (Ohio State) wanted to be dribble penetrators. So we wanted to be active and aggressive, and I think it worked for us.”
Another positive comes from graduate student guard Awa Sidibe, who played 34 minutes after coming off a long stretch off the court due to injury. Having Sidibe on the court provides a strong senior presence at the guard position and a sense of comfort for younger players, especially against strong conference opponents.
“This is the most, without question, the toughest conference … in terms of competitiveness in the conference that I’ve ever been associated with,” Washington said. “It’s always been good, but it’s on another level this year.”
The Knights are in the midst of a three-game stretch against all top-10 teams. Rutgers has four days off before traveling to College Park, Maryland, to take on Maryland and a familiar foe in Kaylene Smikle. Thursday’s tip is scheduled for 7 p.m. and will be broadcast on Big Ten Plus and 88.7 WRSU-FM.
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