11/9/2023 basketball Edit

Rutgers women's basketball doubles up Wagner in 43-point rout

Alec Crouthamel • TheKnightReport

Staff Writer

Beat writer for women's basketball here at TKR, as well as covering all other things Scarlet Knights. Also working as a broadcaster with WRSU student radio and hoping to do more in the future!

Rutgers women's basketball defeated Wagner 86-43 at Jersey Mike's Arena in the second game of the season for the Scarlet Knights as they move to 2-0 on the year. In the official season opener for the Seahawks, they moved to 0-1.

They were led once again by Destiny Adams, who notched her second double-double in a row as a Scarlet Knight, scoring 17 points and grabbing 12 rebounds, along with dishing five assists.

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"Destiny is a Swiss Army knife," head coach Coquse Washington said. "She does a lot of different things for us, she can start the transition, she can rebound, she can push it; she can get started on the front end, she can finish, she knocks down free throws, and she's a pretty good passer too. Her versatility is something that we're going to keep trying to exploit and find all the ways we can use her in different spots and ways."

Rutgers hit the ground running immediately, gaining the lead from the opening tip and not relinquishing it for the rest of the game. Toward the end of the first quarter, the Scarlet Knights really began to pile on the points. They held the Seahawks scoreless for the final 5:31, forcing five turnovers along the way. They thrived especially in transition throughout the game, leading to several opportunities getting to the basket and shooting from the outside.

Jillian Huerter nailed a three-point attempt for the first points of her college career off of a skip pass to beat the Wagner zone. She later made another in the second quarter to give her six points in the first half.

It was more of the same in the second quarter, where Rutgers outscored the Seahawks 27-9. Of the 48 points they scored in the first half, 32 of them were off the fast break. Adams shined especially running the break, scoring 7 points, grabbing seven rebounds and dishing out four assists. All four of those assists were off a fast break opportunity as well, as she converted on several outlet passes to open teammates.

Kaylene Smikle also began to look more like her old self, getting to the free throw line on several occasions, making nine of her ten first half attempts at the line. The Scarlet Knights in the first half as a whole had a bounce-back performance from the charity stripe, going 15-of-16 as a team.

In the second half, it was much of the same. The Scarlet Knights outscored the Seahawks 21-17 to open up a 39-point lead after the third quarter. Adams once again dominated the offensive attack, this time on the scoring end putting up 8 points in the frame. The Manchester, NJ native reached the double-double threshold before the third quarter even ended. Smikle also had a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds, for her first of the season. Chyna Cornwell had another strong game down low, getting close to a third Scarlet Knight double-double with 15 points and 8 rebounds.

"My teammates finding me, that's just a blessing, finding me and giving me good passes," she said.

Rutgers dominated in several facets of the game, especially on the boards. The Scarlet Knights outrebounded Wagner 55-31, as well as dominated in turnovers and points off turnovers. The transition-heavy Scarlet Knights finished the game with 43 fast break points, compared to the Seahawks' 17.

"We want to have a balanced attack, in the sense that when we sub there's not a lot of drop-off," Washington said. "I think in the first half, that's what we saw when we went to our bench, put different people in, to put different lineups on the floor and still be effective, that's something that we want to continue to develop over the course of the season."

The Scarlet Knights return to action on Sunday at 5:00 pm, when Auburn travels up to Jersey Mike's Arena. The team will also be honoring former assistant coach Nikki McCray-Penson, who passed away over the summer. The Tigers qualified for the WNIT last year out of the SEC.