Rutgers women’s basketball wrapped up its third game of a busy Thanksgiving week with a 57-39 victory over Saint Peter’s, but unlike Friday’s win over Northeastern, this game wasn’t as easy as it seemed. The Scarlet Knights used a dominant fourth quarter to pull away from the state Peacocks, but struggled for much of the middle two quarters in Sunday’s matinee session.
Imani Lester picked up where she left off Friday by scoring five points in the first 1:16 as Rutgers built an early 15-3 lead over Saint Peter’s. The Knights started the second quarter up 16-7, but Nene Ndiaye’s 3-pointer with 6:45 was the team’s first basket of the frame.
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The Peacocks were able to cut the lead to 17-15, but were unable to score over the final five and a half minutes of the quarter, shooting just 5-24 from the field and 1-12 from the three-point line in the first half. Rutgers responded with a 7-0 run to lead 26-17 at the halftime break.
The third quarter saw more of the same, with Rutgers extending the lead to double digits, but the Peacocks responded by closing the gap to 39-32 at the end of the period. Saint Peter’s outscored Rutgers in the fourth 15-13 as they held off the Scarlet Knights.
Saint Peter’s continued to bother the Knights in the fourth quarter, pulling within five points, but Rutgers finally solved its zone defense around the seven-minute mark with a layup from Zachara Perkins and a 3-pointer from Kaylah Ivey.
After that, the Scarlet Knights dominated on both ends of the court, going on an 11-0 run to go up 50-34, before holding off the Peacocks for the 18-point victory. Three Rutgers players scored in double figures, with Ndiaye, Lester and Ivey scoring 12 points. Perkins had eight points, six rebounds and four assists on a cold shooting night, while Antonia Bates scored 3-for-3 from the field to lead the bench scorers with six points.
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For Saint Peter’s, De’Naya Rippey led the team with 11 points and was the only scorer in double figures. Layla Laws scored six points, while Nikola Zdenkova and Carys Roy each scored five points. The Peacocks shot a frigid 27% from the field and just 20% from the three-point line, while the quick turnaround may have played a role in Rutgers’ shooting percentages as well, as the Scarlet Knights shot 45% from the field.
The most concerning thing about this game was how poorly Rutgers shot from the perimeter and the free throw line. Two days after shooting a respectable 35% from downtown and 77% at the charity stripe, Rutgers went just 4-15 (27%) from beyond the arc and 7-15 at the line (47%).
In addition to addressing long scoring droughts, the Scarlet Knights will need to create and generate better looks, as those percentages concern everyone. Rutgers will have some time off this week to practice and recover, as they prepare for their Big Ten opener against Iowa, which will be at 6 p.m. on Saturday.
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