Rutgers Women's Basketball made its first trip to Seattle to take on Washington, but the visitors could not get back in the win column, falling 83-65.
The Scarlet Knights (10-17, 2-14) suffered on defense and could not string together stops to remain in the game and fell for the third straight game with two regular-season contests remaining, one at home and one on the road.
Led by 28 points from star guard Elle Ladine, the Huskies (15-12, 6-9) notched a much-needed win as they fight for positioning among the NCAA Tournament bubble as ESPN's Last Team In, according to its latest Bracketology. Dalayah Daniels and Hannah Stines also finished in double figures for Washington with 22 and 16 points.
Destiny Adams led Rutgers in scoring once again with 19 points and six rebounds on 9-for-21 shooting from the floor, with JoJo Lacey (13 points) and Mya Petticord (11 points) also scoring double-digit points.
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The Scarlet Knights were without star freshman guard Kiyomi McMiller for the fourth straight game, having not played since Rutgers' 81-60 loss at Indiana on February 6th. NJ Advance Media's Joey Chandler reported that McMiller did not travel with the team out west, meaning she will also miss Sunday's game against Oregon.
The Huskies capitalized on several open looks, shooting 61% (35-for-57) from the floor and 34 points in the paint, along with 12 made three-pointers on 25 attempts. Even though the Scarlet Knights' defense forced 19 turnovers - third-most in a game this season for Washington - the efficiency from the floor was too much to overcome.
Rutgers got off to a slow start, falling behind by eight points early before a quick timeout by Head Coach Coquese Washington. The Scarlet Knights responded well after the timeout, scoring three straight baskets to get back within a possession late in the first quarter, but the Huskies found their offensive rhythm again and led 24-17 after the opening 10 minutes.
Each time the Scarlet Knights would get close, Washington put together a stretch of baskets to keep the lead at arm's length, particularly in the second quarter. Petticord's three to start the quarter brought Rutgers within four points, but two straight Husky baskets put them ahead by nine, and a layup from Lisa Thompson on the ensuing possession was countered with a 9-0 run over three minutes to build a 16-point lead at 38-22, Washington's largest of the game at that point.
The Scarlet Knights responded with another strong close to the quarter, stringing together baskets and going into halftime trailing 42-31, While it was not an overly close game, Rutgers had battled and put itself in position to potentially make the Huskies work for the win.
That's exactly what Washington did.
Rutgers continued to battle, but the Huskies' efficiency (shooting 9-for-14 from the floor in the third quarter) helped build a larger lead, steadily moving farther ahead before leading by 16 points to end the third quarter.
Similarly to the end of the third quarter, the Scarlet Knights mostly traded baskets and stayed even with Washington, but was unable to make a big run to get back in the game. They did get another stretch of three baskets in a row to turn a 19-point Huskies lead to 13 with three minutes left, but Washington made a trio of three-pointers in the final minutes to bury any comeback attempt.
There were positives to take away from this game for Rutgers, namely on the offensive end. The Scarlet Knights made another six three-pointers, not a big number but one that shows they are finding a consistent rhythm from the perimeter to go along with 10 turnovers, tied for the third-fewest in a game this season.
Lacey continued her strong stretch of play with another trio of three-pointers and finished with double-digit points for the fourth straight game, along with Adams doing so for the 15th time in 16 Big Ten games.
Rutgers' third straight loss also hurt its postseason standing with only two regular-season games left, playing at Oregon on Sunday and hosting Penn State on March 2nd, the following Sunday.
The Scarlet Knights still sit in 17th place, with no changes to their placement, as Northwestern (2-12) fell to No. 21 Maryland on Thursday, and Purdue (2-13) lost to Minnesota on Wednesday.
One wrinkle that could affect the final standings is Northwestern's schedule. The Wildcats have played two less games than Rutgers, due to the fact that their January trip to Los Angeles to take on No. 3 UCLA and No. 4 USC was postponed due to the area's ongoing wildfires at the time.
The Big Ten has not provided any updates on the schedule.
Even if the games do not get rescheduled, Northwestern would still have the head-to-head result over the Scarlet Knights as a tiebreaker, but the conference will likely make an attempt to reschedule the two games, especially considering the Trojans and Bruins are battling for a potential conference regular season championship. Purdue has also played one less game than Rutgers, but has had no postponements and will be guaranteed to finish the season with 18 Big Ten games.
If the Big Ten Tournament started today, the Scarlet Knights would be out. They have two more chances to change that fate, neither of them any small task.
RHOOPS PLAY OF THE GAME
Destiny Adams comes up with the steal and goes coast-to-coast to finish through traffic.
UP NEXT?
The Scarlet Knights finish the second and final leg of their West Coast trip on Sunday, playing at Oregon in Eugene.
The game will tip off at 5pm EST and will be streamed on Big Ten Plus, with radio broadcast available on WRSU.
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