Rutgers Women’s Basketball Falls To Minnesota, 63-52

After a brutal West Coast trip, Rutgers women’s basketball returned home to take on the Minnesota Golden Gophers early on Super Bowl Sunday. The team celebrated National Girls and Women in Sports Day by bringing 314 female New Jersey high school student-athletes onto the court at halftime, and also celebrated Letterwinners Day by honoring letterwinners from the program’s past. Rutgers got on the board first with Janae Walker making a midrange jumper and Nene Ndiaye connecting from downtown to give Rutgers an early 5-2 lead.

Scoring was low in the first quarter as both teams struggled to get going, but Tory McKinney tied the game from the top of the key. Zachara Perkins made a driving layup plus the foul to put RU up 8-5, and strong rebounding gave Perkins a second-chance opportunity, which was answered by Minnesota’s Sophie Hart.

Ndiaye made a layup at the rim to give Rutgers a 12-7 lead, but McKinney connected on her second three to put the Gophers within two. Sophie Hart scored on a put-back layup right at the end of the quarter and was fouled but missed the free throw, leaving Rutgers and Minnesota tied at 12 after the first.

Scoring started to pick up in the second quarter, with the Gophers grabbing their first lead off a McKinney layup, but it was answered by Ndiaye to tie the game at 14. Tenacious defense from the Knights saw a pair of turnovers as the pace of play picked up, and Ndiaye scored off a well-executed baseline pass from Perkins as she had an early nine points for Rutgers.

Minnesota tied the game at 16 with Mara Braun knocking down a midrange pull-up before Brylee Glenn pickpocketed the Knights and ran it back for a layup to put the Gophers back up by two. Ndiaye knocked down a three around the halfway mark to give Rutgers the 19-18 edge, but Hart split a pair of free throws to tie it at 19.

Ndiaye continued her red-hot shooting, drilling an open three from the right wing and then splashing one from the left wing over a defender to put the Knights ahead by six points with under two minutes to go in the second quarter. Minnesota pulled within three at halftime, with the Gophers going from the opposite baseline to a three from Amaya Battle to cut the Rutgers lead to 25-22.

Minnesota cut the lead down to one to open the second half, with Grace Grocholski finding Hart underneath the basket, but Perkins answered back with a layup of her own. Battle knocked down a jumper, but Perkins slipped through the defense and used her left hand to score another layup before Braun answered for the Gophers.

Battle upped the ante with a three from the top of the key to briefly put Minnesota ahead, but the third quarter belonged to Perkins, as she made a hook shot near the rim to tie the contest at 31 past the midway point of the period. After McKinney made two free throws, Ndiaye answered back with an emphatic and-one on a cut to the basket, but she missed the free throw.

Braun then got hot from beyond the arc, knocking down two consecutive triples and intercepting a pass before scoring a driving layup to put the Gophers ahead 41-35. Free throws on both sides kept the margin the same before PreciousGem Wheeler fouled Sophie Hart, resulting in a 45-37 lead for Minnesota after three quarters.

Rutgers scored first in the final quarter, with Antonia Bates finding Ndiaye past the Gophers defense to draw the Knights back within six, but Hart answered back with a layup from an interior pass by Battle. Rutgers made a push with Bates putting back an Ndiaye miss and a three from Perkins, but the Gophers made a pair of layups to maintain a 51-44 lead after three minutes in the period.

Janae Walker brought Rutgers back within five, but Finau Tonga scored a layup for Minnesota before fouling Ndiaye, sending her to the free-throw line. Ndiaye made one of two attempts, but McKinney burst to the rim to put the Golden Gophers back up by eight. However, Ndiaye was not done yet, as she knocked down a three-pointer to tie her career high with 26 points, also bringing Rutgers within five once again at the midpoint.

Coming out of the final TV timeout, Hart was fouled again and made two free throws, while both teams traded missed field goals for the next couple of minutes. A pair of free throws from McKinney gave the Gophers a nine-point edge, but Perkins scored a layup to bring Rutgers back within seven.

Minnesota salted away the win with another couple of McKinney free throws and a layup from Brylee Glenn, giving the Gophers an insurmountable 63-52 lead with a minute to play. Despite the much more competitive effort in this game, Rutgers was not able to punch back following the scoring surge by Mara Braun that gave the Gophers the separation they needed.

The Scarlet Knights were led by a standout performance from Nene Ndiaye, tying her career-best 26 points on 10-21 shooting from the field and making 5-9 from downtown. Zachara Perkins also had an exceptional game, making seven of her eleven shots and scoring 18 points while also adding five rebounds and five assists. Rutgers shot 41% from the field and 33% from beyond the arc and was narrowly outrebounded 39-35.

For the Gophers, Sophie Hart’s interior presence was problematic for Rutgers, as she led the Gophers with 17 points and 10 rebounds and cashed in on many free throws. Tori McKinney made two of four threes and an array of layups to finish with 16 points, while Braun added 12 points, eight coming in the third quarter.

Even with Minnesota’s usual top scorers, Grace Grocholski (0 points) and Amaya Battle (8 points) having quieter games, the Gophers had enough from Hart, McKinney, and Braun to overcome the strong performances of Ndiaye and Perkins for Rutgers. Grocholski did have seven rebounds, three assists, and three steals, while Battle had eight boards and three assists for Minnesota.

The Scarlet Knights will be back on the road after six days off, battling Purdue at Mackey Arena at 12 PM on Saturday, February 14th. Coverage for that game will be available on Big Ten Plus.

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