Rutgers Women's Basketball used a fourth-quarter surge to take down Cornell 72-61 at Jersey Mike's Arena on Thursday night. The Big Red (1-1, 0-0) led by five after the third quarter, but the Scarlet Knights (2-0, 0-0) immediately responded, taking the lead right back and not relinquishing it for the remainder of the game.
Rutgers was once again led by senior forward Destiny Adams, who paced the team with 30 points and 15 rebounds. Freshman guard Kiyomi McMiller - returning from an eye injury suffered early in Monday's win over Manhattan - nearly put up a triple-double in her second collegiate game with 8 points, six rebounds, and eight assists.
Adams reached the 30-point mark for the first time this season and the third time as a Scarlet Knight.
Cornell was led by a heroic effort from junior forward Emily Pape that fell just short. She matched a career-high with 27 points in 38 minutes, joining Clarke Jackson as the only players in double-figures on the team.
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Both teams started off fairly slowly in the first half, as the two teams were knotted up at 34 to end the first half. Adams and JoJo Lacey led the way with nine and eight points at the break, respectively. Lacey finished as the only other Scarlet Knight in double-figures with 11 points and five rebounds.
The third quarter played out in a similar fashion, as a couple of late points gave the Big Red a 52-47 lead heading into the final ten minutes.
Adams immediately went into takeover mode, scoring the first six points of the quarter to give Rutgers the lead back. Jackson hit on a three-point play for Cornell to take the lead once again, but Mya Petticord hit a catch-and-shoot three off a McMiller assist to give Rutgers the lead for good.
In addition to the offense taking a step up in the fourth - the Scarlet Knights made six of their first eight shots from the floor - the defense matched the energy as well. The Big Red were held scoreless for over four and a half minutes, as Rutgers took a commanding 66-55 lead.
"I think the message in that last huddle was that this was going to be our quarter," head coach Coquese Washington said after the game. "That we were going to put it all together and we were going to finish the game strong, and that's what we did."
Adams in the fourth quarter alone scored 14 points and grabbed six rebounds on a perfect 7-for-7 clip from the floor. Every time Rutgers needed a key bucket, Adams was there in transition and in the half-court offense.
The Scarlet Knights continued to struggle with putting up consistent production from the perimeter, a big reason for the game being as close as it was. They hit just four three-pointers on 17 attempts, good for a rate of 24%. All four makes came from two players, as Lacey and Petticord each had two.
In a positive development, the team's transition attack continued to add more versatile pieces. Particularly in the fourth quarter, Rutgers was able to generate a lot of looks at the rim from getting out and running. Several players handled the ball at the point of the attack as well, including Adams, McMiller, Petticord, and Lacey. Giving the team more options to run in the fast break makes the offense more dangerous to guard given the extra options. It showed in the box score as well, as the Scarlet Knights nearly doubled up the Big Red in fast break points at 16-7.
Led by Pape, Cornell's offense used a lot of motion and screen movement to get looks at the rim off cuts and drives. Though Rutgers won the rebounding battle 47-35, the Big Red still erupted for 46 points in the paint, including 26 of its 34 points in the first half.
Despite a couple of early scares, the Scarlet Knights start out 2-0 and will be up next on Sunday afternoon against local foe NJIT. The game will tip off at 2pm at Jersey Mike's Arena and will be broadcast on Big Ten Plus.
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