Rutgers Women's Basketball lost its second-straight game after a 4-0 start, falling to Princeton 66-49 on Sunday afternoon. The Scarlet Knights (4-2) were dominated in the paint and simply could not catch up after a first-quarter deficit.
Kiyomi McMiller had another strong game to start out her freshman campaign, scoring a game-high and career-high 27 points in 38 minutes, on 12-for-25 shooting from the floor. No other Rutgers player scored double-figures as Mya Petticord served as the second-leading scorer with 8 points.
The Tigers (4-2) were led by a career effort from Ashley Chea, as she scored 20 points to go along with nine rebounds. Skye Belker (13 points) and Fadima Tall (11 points, 10 rebounds) also led the way for Princeton.
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Princeton was able to set the tone early, as the Tigers got out to a 10-0 run in the rebounding column while building a double-digit lead in the scoring column. McMiller kept Rutgers in the game with 10 of the team's 15 points in the period.
The second quarter was much slower in terms of offensive production as the two teams combined to score 20 points (10 by each team), with neither squad shooting over 30% from the floor. The Scarlet Knights did a better job of increasing the pressure at the rim on the quarter but still went into the halftime locker room down by eight. They outrebounded Princeton in the second quarter but still struggled throughout the game, as the Tigers won the overall rebounding battle 46-33. Princeton also outscored Rutgers in the paint 36-20, outdueling the Scarlet Knights at what they do best. Destiny Adams was limited to 4 points on just five shot attempts, but she did grab 10 rebounds to tie Chyna Cornwell (4 points, 10 rebounds) for the team lead.
Head coach Coquese Washington attributed some of the struggles at the rim to Princeton's size and depth with their bigs.
"Their size definitely gave us some problems," she said after the game. "Especially with the trio of Parker [Hill[, and Fadima [Tall], and Tabby [Amanze]. They just really gave us problems inside with their size. We just weren't really able to figure that out."
The second half continued with many of the same struggles to score, as the Scarlet Knights shot 9-for-25 in the second half, also getting outrebounded 22-14.
The Scarlet Knights could not make up a double-digit deficit after the third quarter as well, as Princeton outscored them 17-10 in the fourth quarter to put the game away. Rutgers shot just 3-for-14 in the fourth quarter as the lack of shotmaking doomed the team, even if the defense took a step forward after giving up a lot of points to start the season.
A big reason for the struggles inside offensively also attributed to the inability to convert from the perimeter. Rutgers once again struggled to consistently knock down shots from the three-point line, going 4-for-20 for the game, including 1-for-10 in the second half.
The team simply is not build to make a big comeback with the lack of a true perimeter presence, as two-pointers can only get a team so far when they have to claw back into a game.
From here, the Scarlet Knights' schedule continues to get more difficult. They host Marquette and Georgia Southern in the "Battle on the Banks" before playing its first Big Ten game on the road at Wisconsin. Marquette and Rutgers are mostly equal, while Georgia Southern should result in a win. The Scarlet Knights have struggled with the Badgers of late, and playing on the road to start conference play is never easy, especially going up against an interior talent like Serah Williams.
If Rutgers wants to get back in the win column, they'll need to continue to play hard in the paint while getting a more consistent perimeter attack from the offense in order to make defenders step out of the paint.
While the Scarlet Knights should have an advantage at the rim in many of the remaining games, the adjustments need to be made in order to combat the opposing defenses packng the paint.
RHOOPS PLAY OF THE DAY
Kiyomi McMiller ends the first half with her second buzzer-beater of the season.
UP NEXT?
Rutgers hosts Marquette on Black Friday in the first game of the "Battle on the Banks" at Jersey Mike's Arena. The game will tip off at 2pm EST and will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.
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