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Contact: Kimberly Zivkovich (cell: 732-690-6716; email: kzivkovich@scarletknights.com)

Twitter: @RutgersWBB

No. 17/19 Rutgers Takes Down Temple, 88-55

Four Scarlet Knights Reach Double Figured Led by Betnijah Laney & Kahleah Copper with 20 Points Each

PHILADELPHIA, PA. (December 10, 2014) – No. 17/19 Rutgers dominated former Atlantic-10 and American Athletic Conference rival, Temple, in an 88-55 nonconference victory on Wednesday night at McGonigle Hall.

The Scarlet Knights improved to an overall record of 8-1 and to a 4-0 mark on the road.

Kahleah Copper, a Philadelphia native, and Betnijah Laney (Clayton, Del.) each posted a game-high 20 points in the win. Rachel Hollivay (Columbus, Miss.) poured in a season-high 14 points, with 10 registered in the second stanza. Tyler Scaife (Little Rock, Ark.) joined the double-figure scorers with 10 in the victory.

Temple was led by Tyonna Williams with 14 points. Twelve of Williams’ points came from beyond the arc.

Williams knocked down three straight three-pointers to give the Owls a 9-6 lead over the Scarlet Knights early in the game. Rutgers moved in front, 12-11, until Temple’s Williams drained another three to move her team ahead once again at 14-12 with 12:36 to go.

From there, however, Laney poured in eight straight points to start off an 18-3 run for RU. The run would span nearly six minutes as the Scarlet Knights held the Owls to a sole field goal and a free throw.

The Scarlet Knights finished the half shooting 60.6% from the field (20-of-33) to enter halftime with a 45-27 advantage.

Temple, meanwhile, connected on just 28 percent from the field (9-of-32) with five of their nine first half field goals coming from three-point range.

Rutgers’ dominance continued as they led by over 20 points for nearly the entire second half. Midway through the stanza, RU had created a 73-44 lead as the team held at least a 23 point edge over Temple the rest of the way.

Syessence Davis (Nepturne, N.J.) drained a bucket to give the Scarlet Knights its largest lead of the night, 83-52, with 3:04 left to play.

At the 1:31 mark, Shrita Parker (Virginia Beach, Va.) nailed the first three-pointer of her collegiate career to put RU up 86-54.

The Rutgers women’s basketball team returns home to host #11/ 13 Tennessee on Sunday, Dec. 14. Tipoff is at 3 p.m. in front of the ESPN2 cameras.

KNIGHT NOTES

• –          Starting line-up was Rachel Hollivay, Kahleah Copper, Tyler Scaife, Briyona Canty and Betnijah Laney. RU has used the same starting five in the last six straight games and in eight of the nine contests this season.
• –          The Scarlet Knights improved to 4-0 on the road. It is the best road record to start a season since the 2011-12 season when RU started 4-0 away from the friendly confines of the RAC..
• –          Rutgers finished with four in double figures led by Betnijah Laney and Kahleah Copper with 20 points each. RU has had four or more Scarlet Knights reach double digit scoring in eight of their nine games to date.
• –          It was the third time this season a pair of Scarlet Knights dropped in 20 or more points in a game.
• –          Laney’s double-double streak ended against Temple with 20 points and eight rebounds.
• –          Laney hit her first eight shots before missing her first field goal attempt with 2:00 left in the first half. She finished the game 10-of-15 from the field
• –          With her 20 points, Laney moved into 32^nd on the all-time scoring leaders list with 1,044 career points, surpassing Erica Wheeler (2009-11). She needs eight more points to move past Kristen Folley (1982-98) for 31^st on the list.
• –          Rachel Hollivay netted a season-high 14 points. Her previous high was 13 at LSU on Nov. 22.
• –          Hollivay also collected three blocks. It was her third game this season with three or more rejections and  marked the 26^th time in her career. She currently has 168 career blocks and needs 12 more blocks to move past Monique Oliver (2009-12) for fifth place on the all-time blocks leaders list.
• –          Tyler Scaife added in 10 points and six assists. Her six assists tied her career high for the third time. Most recently, she dished the ball out six times at Wagner on Nov. 25.
• –          Syessence Davis cracked the top 10 RU steals leaders list with three steals against the Owls. She now is in sole possession of ninth place on the list with 214 career thefts.
• –          Briyona Canty finished with five assists. She has dished the ball out five or more times in seven of the season’s nine games.
• –          The Scarlet Knights dished the ball out 27 times, tying for the most assists in a game this season. RU also had 27 assists in its 100-44 win over Davidson on Nov. 30.
• –          RU’s nine blocks also tied for the most rejections in a game to date. The Scarlet Knights registered nine rejections in the season-opening 76-52 win over St. Joseph’s.
• –          Rutgers has won the battle of the boards in all nine games to date. The Scarlet Knights outrebounded Temple, 40-37.
• –          The Scarlet Knights shot 56.1 percent (37-of-66) from the field, marking the fourth time this season RU has shot over 50 percent from the floor.
• –          Rutgers outscored the Owls, 36-20, in the paint. RU has scored over 30 points in the paint in all nine games to date and is averaging 37.3 points inside.
• –          RU commited only 11 turnovers against Temple, which is tied for the fewest miscues this season. The Scarlet Knights also had 11 turnovers in the season opening win over St. Joseph’s. Converely, Temple turned over the ball 21 times. RU opponents have committed over 20 turnovers in a game in seven of the nine games played. The opposition is averaging 20.8 turnovers per game.

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-RU-