After a week off, Rutgers women’s basketball returned to action to battle the Lady Lions in a must-win game for both teams, as neither had won a Big Ten game up to this point. The Scarlet Knights got off to a good
start, breaking the Penn State press with Nene Ndiaye scoring seven first-quarter points.
Imani Lester won her matchup with PSU center Gracie Merkle early, while Kaylah Ivey connected on two triples to give Rutgers a 22-17 lead after the first quarter. In the second quarter, the Knights continued to score, with a pair of Lester layups and a three-pointer from Ndiaye pushing the Rutgers lead to 10 points.
However, Penn State’s Viktoria Ranisavljevic was fouled on a made three-point attempt, which briefly cut the lead to six. Faith Blackstone answered with a layup, but former Rutgers guard Kiyomi McMiller made a three before Vitoria Santana got her own rebound and put it back to cut the lead to 31-28.
Lester answered back by using her size to get a layup to push the lead back to five before McMiller completed a three-point play by making a nifty layup and adding the free throw to bring the Lions within two points. Santana cut the lead to one, but a couple of free throws from Lauryn Swann helped Rutgers to a 35-33 lead at halftime.
Penn State came out of the locker room ready to roll, with Merkle making a layup followed by Nyla McFadden going coast to coast to put the Lady Lions up two, their first lead since early in the first half. McFadden continued to score, going for another layup over Lester, but Ndiaye answered back with a three to cut the PSU lead to 39-38.
Tea Cleante forced a steal on an inbounds pass and found a cutting McMiller, who isolated herself from the Rutgers defenders for a wide-open layup, but Swann answered once again with a three-ball from the right wing to knot the score at 41 apiece. Lester fouled Merkle, who made both free throws and gave Penn State a 43-41 lead about one-fourth of the way through the third quarter.
Maggie Mendelson played solid defense to deny Lester under the rim, while McMiller made a midrange in transition as the Lady Lions pushed their lead to four. But Ndiaye was fouled and cut the lead back to two before Ivey pulled up from the free throw line to tie the game at 45.
McFadden scored in the midrange after some solid rebounding efforts gave PSU an extra possession, but Kennedy Brandt connected from the top of the arc to put the Knights back up 48-47. Merkle scored down low to put the Lions up two, but Lester answered on the other end before McMiller put the Lions up 52-50.
Lester was fouled but missed both free throws, while Moriah Murray hit a three-pointer in transition to give Penn State a five-point edge. Swann hit a pull-up jumper to cut the lead to 55-52 entering the fourth quarter. After Merkle made a layup to keep the PSU lead at 3, Rutgers answered with a pair of Blackstone free throws and a Lester layup to put the Knights up one, prompting a timeout for the Lady Lions.
Following the timeout, Rutgers pushed their lead to four, but it was answered quickly by a pair of layups from McMiller and Merkle to tie the game at 61. Penn State briefly took the lead on another Merkle layup, but Ivey knocked down a triple to put the Knights up 65-63. After PSU remained within a possession for several minutes, a layup from Ndiaye put Rutgers up four, and they never looked back.
Lester made a pair of clutch layups to push the Knights up eight with about two minutes left in the fourth quarter, and despite a seven-point flurry from McMiller, which cut the lead to three, Rutgers was able to hold on for the 76-72 victory, its first Big Ten win of the season. Ivey sealed it at the free-throw line, while the Lions were unable to knock down a three to keep themselves within striking distance.
Ndiaye led Rutgers with 20 points after a quiet stretch of games, including shooting 3-6 from deep. Lester scored 19 and led the Knights with eight rebounds, while Ivey and Blackstone were also in double figures with 12 points each. Ivey also led Rutgers with six assists, while Swann provided 10 points off the bench.
For Penn State, McMiller dazzled with 27 points, including several acrobatic layups and knocking down two three-pointers. She also had 11 rebounds and five assists, securing a double-double in the first matchup against her former team. Merkle was a menace in the paint, with 21 points and eight rebounds, consistently providing a reliable option in the low block.
But it was Rutgers that sealed the deal with a strong fourth quarter, as the Knights won the opening and final quarters while being outscored by Penn State in the middle two quarters. It was a necessary win for the Scarlet Knights, who improved to 9-9 on the season, but more importantly, sealed their first conference victory, moving them into 16th place in the Big Ten and one spot outside the conference tournament bubble.
Rutgers returns to Jersey Mike’s Arena for a three-game homestand, starting with hosting #8 Michigan on Thursday at 6 PM. The game will be broadcast nationally on Big Ten Network.
To support me and my work, please follow @arnavsarkar100 on X!
