Rutgers Women's Basketball, in order to qualify for the Big Ten Tournament, needed a Senior Day win over Penn State, and then some help in two other games in the conference's final day of the regular season.
Mission accomplished.
Minutes after Indiana's 77-57 win over Purdue went final, the Scarlet Knights (11-18, 3-15) finished their job defeating Penn State 75-70, later seeing their berth become official after Nebraska's 98-77 win over Northwestern. The Nittany Lions (10-19, 1-17) saw their season come to an end on Sunday, after being eliminated from Big Ten Tournament contention on Thursday in a loss to Purdue.
Despite being shorthanded, Rutgers put plenty of points on the scoreboard, led by Destiny Adams in her final home game, finishing her 14th double-double of the season with 19 points, 14 rebounds, and a career-high seven assists, with two blocks and three steals on the defensive end.
Adams was one of five Scarlet Knights in double figures, with Lisa Thompson (13 points), Mya Petticord (13 points), JoJo Lacey (12 points), and Zachara Perkins (10 points) also doing so.
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The already-thin rotation got thinner when fifth-year senior forward Chyna Cornwell got her ankle rolled up on in the second quarter, taking her out for the rest of the game. Rutgers' rotation was down to six players, with Thompson and Janae Walker rotating in and out when needed.
Awa Sidibe did not play in her final home game after missing the loss at Oregon but participated in the Senior Day festivities. Kiyomi McMiller also did not play, missing her sixth straight game.
The other four players - Adams, Lacey, Perkins, and Petticord - logged heavy minutes. Perkins played all 40 minutes, Adams played 39, Lacey played 38, and Petticord played 36.
Adams' only times on the bench came with a second left in the second quarter, and the final ten seconds of the game, where head coach Coquese Washington subbed out Adams to let her receive a standing ovation from the Jersey Mike's Arena crowd.
"I took her out because I wanted her to have that moment," Washington said after the game. "She chose to come back home and to play in front of her family and friends, and I wanted her to have the opportunity for them to all give her their thank you for coming back, and being a great ambassador and representative of Rutgers Women's Basketball."
"I think it was a little more attention than I than I wanted," Adams joked on the final moments. "But I think it was really nice to see everybody who has supported me these past two years throughout my whole journey. I feel like I've really come a long way and I think that Rutgers pushed me to be the best person that I could be, and really changed my game as a whole."
Despite a game - and season - with plenty of turmoil, the Scarlet Knights continued to show resiliency and got rewarded with a postseason berth.
"I thought that that's one of the things we talked about, coming into the game was playing with a a high level of fight," Washington said. "And to lose Chyna early in the game, that was a blow, and we had to show a lot of resilience and fight around it."
Rutgers went up 24-18 after the first quarter, shooting 57% from the floor and hitting four three-pointers.
The second quarter saw some offensive regression from both sides - including eight Scarlet Knight turnovers - but both defenses stepped up and Rutgers went into the locker room with a 34-31 lead.
Penn State fought back in the third quarter, with the two teams trading the lead six times in the frame alone, but a 5-0 closing run from Petticord - including a buzzer-beating three - put the Scarlet Knights up by six points headed into the final quarter.
Rutgers led wire-to-wire in the fourth quarter, fending off runs from Penn State and hitting free throws late to end the regular season with a victory.
A big reason for the Scarlet Knights' offensive success was an improved shooting game. They shot 45% (26-for-58) from the floor, made eight three-pointers on 20 attempts, and shot a season-best 88% (15-for-17) from the free throw line. Thompson in particular (9-for-10 from the free throw line) opened up her game with confidence shooting and had one of her top scoring games of the season.
"It's senior night," Petticord said on the team's energy. "So we just talked about it before the game, give it all you got. So that's where the energy really came from for the seniors."
Rutgers will now look ahead to the postseason, playing in the second Wednesday game against Nebraska, facing the Cornhuskers for the second time this season. Nebraska won the first matchup 69-62 on January 12th, in a game that saw McMiller return from a two-game absence and score a career-high 33 points.
RHOOPS PLAY OF THE GAME
Mya Petticord beats the third-quarter buzzer to give Rutgers a two-possession lead.
UP NEXT?
The Scarlet Knights will head to Indianapolis for the Big Ten Tournament and will play against Nebraska in the 10 vs 15 seed matchup.
Tip-off is set for 25 minutes after the conclusion of the 3:30 game and will be streamed on Peacock, with radio broadcast available on Fox Sports NJ and WRSU.
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