Rutgers Women's Basketball had lost three of its last four games, and Sunday's Big Ten opener in Madison had all the makings of the past few games, even last week's win over Georgia Southern. It featured a back-and-forth, defensive affair that came down to the wire, largely thanks to a shutdown fourth quarter, a double-digit comeback, and a last-second finish.
Unfortunately for the Scarlet Knights, much like three of those games, the team came on the losing end.
A wild 66-64 loss was punctuated by a whistle with 0.7 seconds to play, a shooting foul on freshman guard Kiyomi McMiller playing help defense trying to send the game to overtime.
McMiller reached in and made contact with Badger guard Ronnie Porter's arm, drawing a foul. An irate Coquese Washington drew a technical foul to give Wisconsin two more opportunities to close the game at the free throw line.
Porter made one of two free throws to take a one-point lead and guard Natalie Leuzinger made one of two technical free throws. With under a second to play, the Badgers inbounded and ran the clock out to move to 8-2 on the season, and 1-0 in Big Ten play. Star forward Serah Williams led the team in scoring and rebounding with 20 points and 13 boards to go along with six assists. Carter McCray and Tess Myers were the only other two Badgers in double-figures with 14 and 11 points, respectively.
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The tumultuous final seconds came on the heels of a frenetic fourth-quarter comeback after the Scarlet Knights trailed 53-42 entering the final frame. After scoring only 26 points in the entire first half, Wisconsin pulled ahead by double-digits by scoring 27 points in the third quarter alone.
Rutgers' defense - for the second consecutive game - locked down the opposition for a majority of the quarter, forcing the Badgers without a field goal for nearly five minutes while ripping off a 20-6 run in the first eight and a half minutes of the quarter.
McMiller once again had a strong game otherwise on offense, scoring 20 points, including a game-tying reverse layup with under 30 seconds to play. She reached the double-digit mark scoring for the seventh consecutive game, the fifth in that stretch with 20 or more points. She also grabbed six rebounds and dished four assists.
Destiny Adams led all scorers with 23 points, showing her usual star form once again after a couple of games where she struggled. She also grabbed seven rebounds of her own and was more efficient at the rim, shooting 10-for-23 from the floor and making a three-pointer. Chyna Cornwell once again paced the Scarlet Knights in rebounding, notching 11 rebounds - seven on the offensive end - along with 8 points scored.
Unlike the two matchups against Wisconsin last season, where it was outscored 38-11 in the two first quarters, Rutgers was able to stay in the game early but trailed 17-11 following the first ten minutes.
The defense amped up the pressure in the second quarter, allowing the Badgers to score just 10 points before going into the locker room trailing 27-26. Wisconsin shot 4-for-13 from the floor in the quarter and only managed only eight rebounds after finishing the first quarter with 16. A strong frame from Adams - 8 points and three rebounds on 4-for-5 shooting from the floor - helped lead the Scarlet Knights back into the game at halftime.
The same defensive effort was not on display in the third quarter as Wisconsin opened up its largest lead of the game and went into the fourth up by double digits, shooting 60% from the floor (9-for-15 from the floor, 6-for-7 from the free throw line) and going on an extended 17-9 run to run ahead. Williams had her best quarter of the game, scoring 10 points on 3-for-3 shooting from the floor to go along with three rebounds and four assists.
The Badgers were +12 with Williams on the court in the third quarter, leading all players.
Similarly to the second quarter, the fourth was a top-notch defensive effort from the Scarlet Knights. Wisconsn made just three field goals on 11 attempts in the entire quarter, with two of them coming in the final 90 seconds. Rutgers' play at the rim improved as well, including fouling out McCray on a three-point play opportunity off a Cornwell offensive rebound. The Scarlet Knights shot 8-for-14 from inside the three-point line in the fourth quarter, getting to the rim to get back in the game.
When it came to crunch time to execute, however, the Badgers got just one more opportunity. In the final minute, Myers sprung free for an open corner three-pointer to give Wisconsin a 64-62 lead with 35 seconds left, mainly due to the team's defensive focus on Williams in the post in a one-point game.
McMiller got to the rim and converted on an open layup to tie the game seconds later, but the Badgers got the last laugh with the late foul and chaos that ensued in the final seconds of the game.
In the end, Wisconsin won its fourth straight game against the Scarlet Knights, with this one being the closest of the four. Each team started its Big Ten slate with the quick one-game December matchup, as Rutgers will have to wait three more weeks to get back in the conference win column with a brutal stretch that includes three straight games against No. 6, No. 7, and No. 12 nationally
Before that, however, the Scarlet Knights have three nonconference games against local low-majors to get back on track with the Big Ten gauntlet looming ahead. A crucial opportunity for an early Big Ten win was not in the cards in Madison for Rutgers.
RHOOPS PLAY OF THE DAY
Kiyomi McMiller takes it to the rim and hits the reverse layup to tie the game with under 30 seconds to play.
UP NEXT?
The Scarlet Knights will be back in action on Wednesday night at Jersey Mike's Arena as they host in-state foe Fairleigh Dickinson at 7 pm EST. The game will be broadcast on Big Ten Plus, with radio broadcasts available on Fox Sports New Jersey and WRSU-FM.
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