As Rutgers Women's Basketball went into the locker room down 46-25 against No. 10 Ohio State, the Scarlet Knights (8-5, 0-2) faithful kept the energy up even with their team trailing the undefeated Buckeyes (13-0, 2-0).
The team rewarded that faith in the second half, though the final score fell just short of an upset win. Ohio State managed to string together points and held on late 77-63 against a Rutgers team showing some of its best defensive energy all season.
The engine behind the machine was once again Destiny Adams. She had one of the finest performances of her Rutgers career, scoring 31 points and grabbing 17 rebounds - both game-highs - while also picking up five steals, blocking two shots, and drawing a whopping five charges at the rim.
Despite playing much of the second half in foul trouble, Adams kept accepting the assignment of getting good shots on offense and deterring Buckeye drivers on defense.
Adams picked up her second, third, and fourth fouls in three minutes in the third quarter, with the last coming with 3:38 to go. She finished the game with the same four fouls, walling up on defense and playing clean.
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The Scarlet Knights got down quickly in the first quarter as the Buckeyes put together a run driven by their full-court press. Ohio State head coach Kevin McGuff sent all-out pressure on freshman Kiyomi McMiller as the primary ballhandler. McMiller struggled to start the game, finishing with 14 points on 5-for-19 shooting from the floor. She eventually found her rhythm in the fourth quarter but dealt with foul trouble of her own, playing much of the second half with four fouls.
Rutgers switched early on to a 2-3 zone to slow down Ohio State's offensive momentum, and it worked as the Buckeyes had trouble with finding open lanes at the basket towards the end of the quarter. They still led 23-16 thanks to their defensive pressure.
Ohio State's intensity on offense and defense increased tenfold in the second quarter, as the Buckeyes went into halftime with a 21-point advantage, breaking through the zone and continuing to force turnovers with 12 at the half. The nation's tenth-ranked team was well on its way to maintaining its undefeated record and winning its second Big Ten game in blowout fashion
In the second half, however, Rutgers flipped the script.
"I thought they responded great," Scarlet Knights head coach Coquese Washington said. "The message [at halftime] was no big message, but we just talked about, what are the things that we needed to do differently in the second half. Some of it was on the defensive end, some of it was how we wanted to attack their press. I thought we had a little bit more ball security in the second half. Kiyomi and Destiny made some big plays down the stretch and we got a little bit of continuity on the offensive end of the floor."
The defense came out hot in the third quarter, holding the Buckeyes without a field goal until the 4:22 mark and building up an 11-1 run to start. Ohio State shot just 5-for-15 from the floor in the quarter, including missing their first seven shots.
The Buckeyes eventually found their footing and got the lead back up to 24 points as McMiller and Adams sat with foul trouble. Washington trusted the duo and put them back in the game to close the quarter, and they responded accordingly, ending the third quarter on a 7-0 run in the last 1:21 to close the gap to 17 points.
The defensive intensity continued into the fourth quarter, as Ohio State made just one of its first eight shots from the floor. The Scarlet Knights scratched and clawed back into the game, only getting as close as nine points with two minutes left, but the Buckeyes hit key free throws late to salt the game away.
"They didn't quit playing, they kept playing hard, they executed," Buckeyes head coach Kevin McGuff said. "We got a little lackadaisical, and this has been a little bit of a trend unfortunately. We get a lead, we don't continue to do the things that allow us to get the lead. That's something we gotta work on."
In the end, the theme of the game for Rutgers was a fierce defensive effort that was doomed by missed opportunities on the offensive end. There were plenty of turnovers to go around, with both teams being mostly even - 22 for the Scarlet Knights, 20 for Ohio State - but the difference in the game was converting those opportunities. The Buckeyes scored 29 points off turnovers and 33 fast break points, compared to just 9 points off turnovers for the Scarlet Knights and 14 points in transition.
Rutgers continued to struggle in the shooting department as well, similar to their struggles on the rest of the year. The Scarlet Knights shot just 3-for-16 from beyond the arc and 14-26 from the free throw line, leaving opportunities on the table as the defense continued to fight back.
Awa Sidibe, playing in her second game back after suffering a season-ending knee injury in November of 2023, ranked second on the team with 34 minutes played and was the lone Scarlet Knight with a positive plus-minus figure at +6. Rutgers was outscored by 20 points in the six minutes she sat on the bench. While Sidibe did not light up the scoreboard with 3 points, three rebounds, and two assists, having her out there as an experienced defensive stopper and secondary ballhandler is important for a young Rutgers team.
This marked the first game of Rutgers' Big Ten gauntlet as they face three straight top ten teams to start conference play, with a road game at No. 8 Maryland on Thursday and a home showdown with JuJu Watkins and No. 4 USC on Sunday. The month continues with other ranked matchups against No. 19 Michigan State, No. 23 Michigan, and No. 1 UCLA, along with teams such as Nebraska and Illinois that are receiving votes.
The intensity and effort level was a very good start against a tough opponent, and with continued performances like that - particularly on defense - the Scarlet Knights may have a chance to pull off the upset behind Adams and McMiller leading the offense.
RHOOPS PLAY OF THE DAY
Destiny Adams gets the chasedown block to fire up the crowd and keep Ohio State off the board.
UP NEXT?
Rutgers will be back in action on Thursday, as they travel to College Park to take on No. 8 Maryland. This game will be full of storylines, as the Scarlet Knights will face off against old friend Kaylene Smikle, who has broken through as the Terrapins' leading scorer. McMiller, a native of Silver Spring, will also be returning to her home state of Maryland.
The game will tip off at 7pm EST and will be streamed on Big Ten Plus, with radio broadcasts available on Fox Sports NJ and WRSU-FM.
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