After a 51-46 loss on the road at Auburn, Rutgers women’s basketball returns home this week for its second homestand of the season, hosting Siena, Northeastern, and Saint Peter’s during this holiday week.
The Scarlet Knights will look to “feast” on a few more mid-major opponents before opening Big Ten play against #19 Iowa next Saturday.
First up is Rutgers’ return to Jersey Mike’s Arena at 7 PM this evening against Siena. The Saints are 0-5 on the season, and have struggled to generate offense while giving up a lot of points as well. Siena has losses to Colgate, UMass, Army, Dartmouth, and, most recently, a 25-point thumping by Albany. The Scarlet Knights should be heavily favored to win this game, having seen and defeated much tougher mid-majors in Rhode Island and Quinnipiac, as well as FDU.
On Friday evening, the Scarlet Knights host Northeastern, with the Huskies coming off their second win of the season against Sacred Heart. Northeastern also has a 75-64 win over Yale, while falling 83-65 against Merrimack, 50-45 against high-major Providence, and 61-57 against Boston University. They also lost 75-60 in the season-opener to Long Island University. While this game should be a little bit tougher, it should be a game that Rutgers wins with relative ease.
Finally, Rutgers will host another in-state opponent on a quick turnaround when Saint Peter’s makes the trip down from Jersey City to Piscataway. The Peacocks have lost every game by double digits this season, with Seton Hall blowing them out 88-39 and NJIT taking them down 81-33. For reference, Minnesota defeated NJIT 88-39, showing the talent disparity between the three schools. Even if Rutgers is not as good as the Gophers, which they very well may not be, Rutgers should cruise in this game to end the week, with tip time at 3 PM on Sunday.
The Scarlet Knights should look to go 3-0 this week and build some confidence before the schedule gets tougher once again. Rutgers will host #19 Iowa next Saturday to open conference play before visiting Princeton on the road the following Thursday, a series in which the Tigers have won three games straight.
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