Rutgers Women’s Basketball Pulls Away From Saint Peter’s To Improve To 7-2

Rutgers women’s basketball concluded their third game of a busy Thanksgiving week with a 57-39 victory over Saint Peter’s, but unlike Friday’s win over Northeastern, this game was not as one-sided as it looked. The Scarlet Knights used a dominant fourth quarter to pull away from the in-state Peacocks, but struggled for much of the middle two quarters in the Sunday matinee.

Imani Lester picked up where she left off Friday by scoring five points in the first 1:16, as Rutgers built an early 15-3 lead over Saint Peter’s. The Knights began the second quarter up 16-7, but Nene Ndiaye’s three-pointer with 6:45 was the first basket for the team in the frame.

The Peacocks were able to cut the lead all the way down to 17-15, but could not score for the final five and a half minutes of the quarter, shooting just 5-24 from the field and 1-12 from the three-point line in the first half. Rutgers responded with a 7-0 run to lead 26-17 at the halftime break.

The third quarter saw more of the same, with Rutgers pushing the lead back to double digits but the Peacocks responding by closing the gap to 39-32 by the end of the period. Saint Peter’s outscored Rutgers in the quarter 15-13 as they hung tough with the Scarlet Knights.

Saint Peter’s continued to pester the Knights into the fourth quarter, getting as close as five points, but Rutgers finally solved their zone defense around the seven-minute mark with a layup from Zachara Perkins and a three-pointer by Kaylah Ivey.

After that, the Scarlet Knights dominated on both ends of the floor, going on an 11-0 run to go up 50-34, before holding off the Peacocks for the 18-point victory. Three Rutgers players were in double figures, with Ndiaye, Lester, and Ivey all scoring 12 points. Perkins had eight points, six rebounds, and four assists on a cold shooting night, while Antonia Bates went 3-3 from the field to lead bench scorers with six points.

For Saint Peter’s, De’Naya Rippey led the team with 11 points, and she was the only scorer in double figures. Layla Laws had six points, while Nikola Zdenkova and Carys Roy had five points apiece. The Peacocks shot a frigid 27% from the field and just 20% from the three-point line, while the quick turnaround may have played a role in Rutgers’ shooting percentages as well, as the Scarlet Knights went 45% from the field.

What was most concerning about this game was how poorly Rutgers shot from the perimeter and the free-throw line. Two days after going a respectable 35% from downtown and 77% at the charity stripe, Rutgers went just 4-15 (27%) from beyond the arc and 7-15 at the line (47%).

In addition to fixing the long scoring droughts, the Scarlet Knights will need to create and generate better looks, as those percentages are concerning all around. Rutgers will have some time off this week to practice and recover, as they get ready for their Big Ten opener against Iowa, which will be at 6 PM on Saturday.

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