Rutgers Women’s Basketball Defeats Stony Brook 61-47 To Roll To 2-0

The Rutgers women’s basketball team improved to 2-0 on the young season with a comfortable victory over Stony Brook on Friday afternoon at the RAC. The Scarlet Knights jumped out to an early 11 point lead at the end of the first quarter and cruised the rest of the way. They never trailed in the game, led by as much as 21 points in the third quarter, before ultimately winning by the score of 61-47.

Charise Wilson led all scorers with 14 points and also grabbed 6 boards while dishing out 6 assists. Noga Peleg Pelc added 11 points behind a 3 of 7 night from the three-point line and 4 boards. Victoria Harris scored 9 points, grabbed 7 boards, as well as 3 assists and 2 steals. Caitlin Jenkins had another strong outing, scoring 8 points and pulling down 7 rebounds in just 18 minutes of action.

As a team, Rutgers shot 47.3% from the field, including 6 of 11 from three-point range for 54.5%. The Scarlet Knights held Stony Brook to just 30.8% shooting from the field. They dominated the boards once again, following up their program record effort in the season opening win over St. Francis (PA) by holding a +18 rebounding margin in this victory. The only issue for Rutgers is that they committed 23 turnovers, their second straight game with 20+.

Several Scarlet Knight players missed this game. Veterans KK Sanders and Sierra Calhoun continue to sit out due to injuries. Sanders has a wrist issue, while Calhoun is dealing with an ankle injury. Sophomore wing Tekia Mack is also out with an elbow issue. Calhoun is expected to return first, although date of return has not been decided. In addition, heralded 5-star recruit Zippy Broughton did not play due to an ankle injury suffered in practice on Wednesday. Broughton had 11 points, 4 assists, and 3 steals in her first college game on Tuesday. Lastly, Ciani Cryor is serving a ten game suspension due to a violation of team rules.

Next up, the opportunity for history, as Rutgers head coach C. Vivian Stringer looks to become one of a handful of Division I coaches, men’s or women’s, to win 1,000 career games. Rutgers hosts Central Connecticut State at the RAC on Tuesday night in a game that will be shown live on the Big Ten Network. Good luck to coach Stringer and we will be there to cover the action. For now, the Scarlet Knights are off to a 2-0 start even without several key players.