Rutgers women’s basketball had its second-to-last home game of the season against Penn State, where all the graduating Scarlet Knights were honored for their time spent on the banks. Unfortunately for Rutgers, they could not pick up the win, falling to the Nittany Lions 87-78.
Nene Ndiaye started the scoring for the Knights in the first quarter by hitting a free throw. Rutgers would get their first three points off of free throws as Faith Blackstone would hit a pair before Kaylah Ivey would hit the game’s first shot from the field, a three-pointer, to put the Knights up 6. Penn State would not get on the board until just under six minutes in the first quarter, when Tea Cleante hit a three-pointer to cut Rutgers’ lead to 5. The Nittany Lions were 0-5 on all shot attempts before Cleante’s three-pointer. Imani Lester had 10 points in the first quarter, but the offensive efforts from Cleante and McMiller allowed the Nittany Lions to take a three-point lead heading into the second.
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Lester would continue to power the Knights’ offense in the second quarter, nailing a three-pointer and tying the game at 21, before hitting a two-point jumper to give Rutgers the lead; however, Penn State would go on a 8-0 run to take the lead right back. McMiller’s shooting got hot in the second quarter, as she scored 11 points to help the Nittany Lions extend their lead to 38-32 as both teams headed to the lockerroom.
A back-and-forth start to the third quarter would see Penn State’s three-point game come alive, as they slowly pulled away over the first two and a half minutes of the quarter. McMiller would continue to pour it on from beyond the arc, pushing the Nittany Lions’ lead to double digits. The Knights were able to stop the bleeding throughout the rest of the third, keeping the score from getting any worse, but were unable to draw any closer, as Penn State held a 63-53 lead heading into the fourth.
A quick bucket by Nene Ndiaye and two made free throws by Zachara Perkins cut Penn State’s lead to 6 with just over 9 minutes to play in the game. After some Penn State free throws, Faith Balckstone would nail a three-pointer to cut the Nittany Lions’ lead to 6 again. Rutgers would not draw any closer until Ivey hit a three-pointer to cut the lead to 4. However, the Knights would not be able to capitalize, as Penn State pulled away late to secure the win.
The Knights had a rough outing in several measures. Penn State shot 62 percent on field goals and 70 percent on threes. Rutgers grabbed 20 total offensive rebounds but only scored 7 points off of them. They also tied Penn State in turnovers created with 13, but only scored 7 points while the Nittany Lions scored 24.
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Two players ran virtually unopposed for Penn State as the Knights had no answer for McMiller, who finished the game with 37 points, while Gracie Merkle dominated in the paint, scoring 26 points.
Despite the losing effort, Perkins had a good outing, scoring 15 points and grabbing 10 rebounds on her way to a double-double.
Rutgers’ last home game will be on Wednesday at 7 pm against Indiana.