Rutgers Women's Basketball had struggled at times with late-game execution falling in the final seconds to Marquette and Wisconsin and to Illinois in overtime.
When Purdue cut the Scarlet Knights' (10-14, 2-11) lead to just a point two minutes into the fourth quarter Sunday at Jersey Mike's Arena, it looked like it was headed for more of the same.
Rutgers turned the tide late, however, and got back in the win column in the program's annual Play4Kay Game, taking down the Boilermakers (8-15, 1-11) 78-69 without star freshman guard Kiyomi McMiller.
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"She reported that she's not feeling 100%," head coach Coquese Washington said after the game on McMiller's status. "So we'll just take it day by day, game by game, and when she's feeling 100%, then she'll suit back up."
JoJo Lacey led all scorers with 22 points with a trio of three-pointers, while Destiny Adams notched her twelfth double-double of the season with 20 points and 11 rebounds, hitting two three-pointers of her own.
The biggest surprise of the game was Mya Petticord's season-best performance, scoring a season-high 17 points off the bench with two three-pointers and a perfect 5-for-5 mark from the free throw line. Petticord left Thursday's loss to Indiana with an ankle injury, but was good to go against the Boilermakers with a brace on her ankle.
Rutgers was able to get going early on offensively, jumping out to a 17-10 lead after the first quarter anchored by strong play on the perimeter and from Adams.
That continued in the second quarter, and though Purdue cut the Scarlet Knights' lead to a couple possessions midway through, Rutgers went on a run to close the first half and went up 39-25 at the half.
The third quarter was played mostly even, as Rutgers kept its pace up and Purdue slowly tried to get back into the game. The Boilermakers cut the lead to five after the Scarlet Knights had led by ten points for most of the quarter, and trailed by six going into the fourth.
In the opening minutes of the final quarter, Purdue strung together multiple strong possessions from the perimeter to get within a point. Rutgers put together a counterpunch with an 11-0 run to regain breathing room, and though the Boilermakers put together some strong offense late, never got within five points for the rest of the game.
The Scarlet Knights got the late-game execution they needed to put away Purdue and notch their second Big Ten win.
"I think at the end of the game it really started with our defense," Washington said. "We got some stops down the stretch, and then we were able to get going in transition, and we made free throws down the stretch. We got some big stops, I mean Destiny got the breakaway layup, JoJo got a big steal, so it was really those stops that we got the last three minutes of the game that made a difference."
Powering the offense's success in both the second and fourth-quarter runs was getting out in transition - as Washington mentioned - and converting from the perimeter. Rutgers shot 8-for-21 in the game, tied for the third-most in a game this season. The Scarlet Knights forced 18 turnovers that led to 16 points and scored 20 fast-break points.
Rutgers' 15 assists on 25 made field goals marked the fourth-most of the season, with the top five assist performances all resulting in wins.
This win is all the more important when looking big picture in the conference, as getting a win over a Purdue team that also came in with a single Big Ten win helps separate the Scarlet Knights from the bottom three teams that are eliminated from the Big Ten Tournament.
Rutgers is tied with Wisconsin with two wins - though the Badgers have a December head-to-head win - while the Boilermakers, Northwestern, and Penn State all have one win. The Wildcats defeated the Nittany Lions earlier on Sunday to get on the board in conference play, and Northwestern comes to town at Jersey Mike's Arena on Monday, February 17th.
The Scarlet Knights will need to continue to string together wins down the stretch with home matchups against the Nittany Lions and Wildcats looming. Sunday was a good start, especially winning without the offense's top option. The question is can Rutgers sustain that production, starting with a road tilt at Iowa later in the week.
RHOOPS PLAY OF THE DAY
Mya Petticord breaks the press and finds Destiny Adams for an open three.
UP NEXT?
Rutgers has a few days off before hitting the road to take on Iowa at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Thursday.
The game will tip off at 7:30pm EST and will be streamed on Big Ten Plus, with radio broadcast available on Fox Sports NJ.
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