Rutgers University
Indiana
Women's Basketball Heads to No. 6/6 Indiana
Jan 28 | Women's Basketball
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — The Rutgers women's basketball team (9-13, 3-7 B1G) will travel to face Indiana (19-1, 9-1) on Sunday, Jan. 29 at 2 p.m.
The contest will be streamed live on B1G+.
On the Call
- Watch on B1G+
- Listen on WRSU
Last Time Out
The Scarlet Knights used a total team effort to defeat Penn State (12-9, 3-7 B1G), 86-82, in overtime on Thursday night at Jersey Mike's Arena, splitting the season series.
That winning feeeeling 🥳🪩#GoRU | #RUWBB | #B1GWBBall | #ncaaW pic.twitter.com/s32Amoi4zl
— Rutgers W.Basketball (@RutgersWBB) January 27, 2023
The contest was back-and-forth all night until Erica Lafayette made a jump shot at the end of the fourth from the wing to put Rutgers ahead by two. Penn State answered however, making a layup to send the game to overtime.
TURN ME UP 😤#GoRU | #RUWBB | #B1GWBBall | #ncaaW pic.twitter.com/iocyiEC67Z
— Rutgers W.Basketball (@RutgersWBB) January 27, 2023
In extra time, Kai Carter and Awa Sidibe used free throws to put the Scarlet Knights up three. Freshman Antonia Bates rebounded a missed Penn State three-pointer and made one shot from the free throw line to seal the Scarlet Knights' victory.
All eight Scarlet Knights scored in the win, with five reaching double-digits. Carter played a big role in the victory, tying her career-high 17 points and dishing out a career-high six assists.
Junior Chyna Cornwell recorded her seventh double-double of the season, scoring 16 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Another post player in Kassondra Brown stepped up for Rutgers, recording nine points and 10 rebounds.
Freshman Kaylene Smikle continued to provide strong offense for RU with 14 points, Abby Streeter gave the team a spark off the bench with her seven points. Lafayette and Sibide also chipped in 10 points apiece.
Rutgers outrebounded Penn State, 49-45, in the win. The Scarlet Knights scored 50 of their 86 points in the paint, and made 24 free throws.
Three-peat.
Kaylene Smikle was chosen as the Big Ten Freshman of the Week for the third time this season and the second time this month. The conference made the announcement on Monday afternoon.
KAYLENE SMIKLE IS LIKE THAT ‼️👌
— Rutgers W.Basketball (@RutgersWBB) January 23, 2023
📰: https://t.co/CVnV38GuPy#GoRU | #RUWBB | #B1GWBBall pic.twitter.com/Uou0nH4lE7
Smikle is the first freshman in program history to earn the honor three times in the same season and the first Scarlet Knight to earn any Big Ten weekly award three times since 2014-15 when Betniijah Laney accomplished the feat.
The weekly honor is also the third for Rutgers this season under head coach Coquese Washington. In addition, the honor is just the fourth Freshman of the Week for RU all-time, after Diamond Johnson picked up the first on Dec. 21, 2020 and Smikle was chosen earlier this season on Dec. 19, 2022 and Jan, 9, 2023.
Smikle led Rutgers in both contests this week, averaging 19.5 points, two rebounds, two assist and three steals against No. 14/16 Michigan (Jan. 19) and Michigan State (Jan. 22). With 27 points against the Spartans, Smikle has now reached 20+ points 10 times this season, the second most by any D1 freshman.
Milestones on Milestones
With 11 points against Michigan State, Carter reached the 1,000-point milestone. She hit a pair of free throws in the fourth quarter to seal the achievement. She is the only active Scarlet Knight to hit 1,000 career points.
With her last two free throws, Kai Carter is officially the newest member of the 1,000 point club 🤩#GoRU | #RUWBB | #B1GWBBall pic.twitter.com/AVbUrxxcfT
— Rutgers W.Basketball (@RutgersWBB) January 22, 2023
The next game against Penn State, Carter also notched her 500th career rebound, recording eight total boards in the win.
1,000 points and 500 rebounds... what a time to be Kai Carter 🤩
— Rutgers W.Basketball (@RutgersWBB) January 27, 2023
📺 @BigTenPlus
📊 https://t.co/IQ5v58OZii#GoRU | #RUWBB | #B1GWBBall pic.twitter.com/TDOcOQEPqG
Making History
The team's win over Minnesota marked the 1,000th program win for Rutgers. The six-point win also marked head coach Coquese Washington's 100th Big Ten win.
Milestones on milestones.
— Rutgers W.Basketball (@RutgersWBB) January 13, 2023
Congrats on 100 wins in the Big Ten, Coach @CoqueseWashing ♥️#GoRU | #RUWBB pic.twitter.com/ujSxkmRKki
The Scarlet Knights are the 22nd Division I program to reach 1,000 wins and the fourth this season. RU is also the third current Big Ten program to reach the milestone along with Maryland and Ohio State.
1,000 reasons to celebrate 🤩#GoRU | #RUWBB pic.twitter.com/lPeNAOdFXQ
— Rutgers W.Basketball (@RutgersWBB) January 13, 2023
First Year Phenom
Freshman Kaylene Smikle continues to impress as she paces the team with 17.2 points per game in addition to averaging 20.4 points in Big Ten play.
Smikle is the only Scarlet Knight to net 20+ points in a game, accomplishing the feat 10 times, the second most among all D1 freshmen.
- 22 points vs. South Dakota State (Nov. 20)
- 23 points vs. Cornell (Nov. 27)
- 21 points vs. Ohio State (Dec. 4)
- 22 points at Illinois (Dec. 7)
- 26 points vs. Princeton (Dec. 15)
- 29 points vs. Maryland (Jan. 2)
- 20 points vs. Nebraska (Jan. 7)
- 20 points vs. Minnesota (Jan. 12)
- 21 points vs. Maryland (Jan. 15)
- 27 points vs. Michigan State (Jan. 22)
The rookie has reached double-digit scoring in 18 of 22 outings this campaign. She has hit double figures in the last 10 games and 20+ points in five of her last seven outings.
The Farmingdale, New York product has also been solid from beyond the arc. Her 39 three-pointers lead the Scarlet Knights while her five three's against South Dakota State rank as the highest performance in a single game this season for RU. She has hit at least one three in 18 of 21 contests this slate and cashed in on two or more in eight of the last 11 games.
B1G Blocks
Rutgers has recorded 103 blocks over 22 games, leading the Big Ten in the statistic as the first team to triple digits. The team leads the runner-up Northwestern by six stops.
Antonia Bates paces RU with 25 total blocks, ranking sixth in the Big Ten. Kassondra Brown also sits in the conference's top-10 with 19 denials. Both Bates and Brown have collected 3+ blocks on three occasions and have led the team in swats five and seven times, respectively.
Doubling Up
The Scarlet Knights have combined for nine double-doubles this season including two in Big Ten play.
Chyna Cornwell leads the team with seven double-doubles, tied for second in the big Ten, including back-to-back outings against Illinois (Dec. 7) and Hampton (Dec. 10):
- vs. Seton Hall – 10 points, 10 rebounds
- vs. Cornell – 11 points, 16 rebounds
- at Illinois – 10 points, 11 rebounds
- vs. Hampton – 18 points, 14 rebounds
- vs. New Orleans – 15 points, rebounds
- vs. Maryland – 15 points, 13 rebounds
- vs. Penn State – 16 points, 10 rebounds
In addition, Awa Sidibe (11 pts, 10 reb) recorded a double-double against Seton Hall (Nov. 11) while Kassondra Brown (10 pts, 10 reb) also hit the accomplishment Minnesota (Jan. 12).
Strong Off the Boards
Rutgers has secured more or the same rebounds as the opposition in 13 outings this season, including all but two wins. This season, RU has outrebounded its opponents 844-804 (+42).
The team has recorded 30+ rebounds in 19 of 22 outings and 40+ boards in 10 games. The Scarlet Knights grabbed a season-high 53 off the glass against Cornell (Nov. 27) for its highest rebounding margin (+23).
Chyna Cornwell leads the Scarlet Knights off the boards, with 8.8 rebounds per game to rank third in the Big Ten. Her 16 rebounds against Cornell also measures up as the second-best single game performance this season.
Cornwell also paces the league with 73 total offensive boards.
The Scarlet Knights Against the Top-25
RU will still meet five teams mentioned between the AP Top 25 and the USA Today/WBCA Coaches Polls this season:
- No. 2/5 Ohio State
- No. 6/6 Indiana
- No. 10/8 Iowa
- No. 13/17 Michigan
- No. 22/22 Illinois
Washington Returns to the Big Ten
The Washington era at Rutgers signals the head coach's return to the Big Ten, after serving as the head coach at Penn State for 12 seasons. From 2012-14, the Lady Lions claimed three consecutive Big Ten regular-season titles, becoming one of four programs in conference history to win three or more regular-season crowns in a row. She guided Penn State to two Sweet 16 appearances in 2012 and 2014 while developing 17 players to All-Big Ten status on 32 separate occasions.
Washington earned Big Ten Coach of the Year honors three times (2012-14), WBCA Regional Coach of the Year twice (2012, 2013), and was named a finalist for WBCA National Coach of the Year two times (2012, 2013). She was also selected as the 2011 and 2014 Black Coaches Association (BCA) Female Coach of the Year.
Successful Staff
Washington won't be the only new face on the sidelines this season as she named Tasha Pointer, Nikki McCray-Penson and John Hampton assistant coaches during the offseason.
Pointer returns "On The Banks," bringing 18 total years of coaching experience, including eight seasons on the sidelines with the Scarlet Knights from 2007-15. As a player from 1997-2001, Pointer led Rutgers to the 2000 Final Four, the hallmark of a 128-game career that produced program-record totals of 839 assists and 292 steals while scoring 1,456 points. Pointer was inducted into the Rutgers Athletics Hall of Fame in 2008, which was also her first year on the coaching staff that guided the Scarlet Knights to an NCAA Elite Eight, a Sweet 16, and a WNIT Championship during seven overall trips to the postseason.
McCray-Penson comes to Piscataway, New Jersey with 15 years of college coaching experience, most recently as a head coach at Mississippi State and Old Dominion, which followed a standout college playing career at Tennessee, nine seasons in the WNBA and two gold-medal winning performances with Team USA at the 1996 and 2000 Summer Olympics.
Hampton, the former head coach at Clarkson University, has spent the last seven seasons at St. Joseph's, including the last three as the Hawks' assistant head coach. At St. Joe's, Hampton helped lead the Hawks to the postseason twice, an Atlantic 10 Tournament title game, a Hawk Classic crown, and a WNIT victory. Hampton graduated from Mansfield University in 2008, where he joined the men's basketball program as a walk-on and went on to earn the team's MVP twice in 2007 and 2008. He was selected as a PSAC All-Conference honoree as a senior.
Scarlet Knights on the Big Screen
The Scarlet Knights are set for eight appearances between the Big Ten Network and Fox Sports 1.
- vs. Ohio State – Dec. 4 – 12 p.m. (BTN)
- vs. New Orleans – Dec. 18 – 2 p.m. (BTN)
- vs. Maryland – Jan. 2 – 2 p.m. (BTN)
- vs. Nebraska – Jan. 7 – 2 p.m. (BTN)
- at Minnesota – Jan. 12 – 8:30 p.m. (BTN)
- vs. Michigan – Jan. 19 – 8:30 p.m. (BTN)
- at Iowa – Feb. 12 – 3 p.m. (FS1)
- at Wisconsin – Feb. 20 – 8 p.m. (BTN)
- vs. Illinois – Feb. 26 – 2 p.m. *Could be flexed to B1G+
The entire Big Ten Tournament run will also be broadcast nationally.
The remaining 11 home games on the schedule not set to air on TV will be streamed on Big Ten+.
History Against Indiana
Rutgers and Indiana are tied in the all-time series, 6-6. The Hoosiers have come out on top in the last three contests, dating back to 2019. The Scarlet Knights last win came on Feb. 18, 2019 on the road, 69-61.
Scouting the Hoosiers
Indiana is on a seven-game tear, most recently defeating back-to-back ranked opponents in No. 14/16 Michigan (92-83) and No. 2/5 Ohio State (78-65).
Mackenzie Holmes paces the team with 22.1 points per game. Big Ten standout Grace Berger just returned from injury and is currently averaging 11.7 points. Holmes also leads with the team with 8.1 rebounds per contest.
Next Up
Rutgers will return to Jersey Mike's Arena on Sunday, Feb. 5 to face Wisconsin at 2 p.m. RU will celebrate Play4Kay during the contest and encourages everyone to wear pink!
Follow Along
Follow Rutgers women's basketball on Twitter and Instagram (@RutgersWBB) for all of the latest news and updates. The team is also on Facebook (www.facebook.com/RutgersWBB). For all Rutgers Athletics news follow us on Twitter(@RUAthletics), Instagram (@RUAthletics), and Facebook (www.facebook.com/RutgersAthletics). For additional updates, please download the Gameday App.
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