Rutgers was shocked 71-54 by Stony Brook on Sunday in an upset that most fans did not see coming. After surviving a tough challenge from mid-major darling Quinnipiac, Stony Brook was supposed to be an easier opponent for the Scarlet Knights. However, the opposite happened, with the Seawolves outscoring Rutgers 21-9 in the fourth quarter to pull away from the hosts after a competitive first three quarters.
Stony Brook was led by guard Janay Brantley, who led all scorers with 23 points and five rebounds, and forward Caitlin Frost, who had 21 points and 10 rebounds. The Seawolves dominated in the paint, with 36 points and 22 offensive rebounds, with 22 second-chance points coming from those rebounds. Despite a height advantage, the Knights had no answer for Stony Brook’s active rebounding and dominance in the paint.
After her career-high 23 points and nine rebounds, Nene Ndaiye once again led Rutgers with 16 points and had four rebounds as well. Janae Walker led the Scarlet Knights with six rebounds and pitched in six points, while Imani Lester was the only other Rutgers player in double figures with eleven points. Kaylah Ivey had nine points while she played all 40 minutes, as fellow guards Lauryn Swann and Faith Blackstone were out with injuries.
Antonia Bates scored her first points of the season after being held scoreless through the first couple of contests in her return from season-ending surgery last year. Zachara Perkins was the only other Scarlet Knight to score, with four points and four rebounds in 27 minutes of action, while Yacine N’Diaye grabbed three rebounds in nine minutes. Rutgers went 17-47 from the field and 7-19 from beyond the arc for a respectable percentage of 36.8%, which was exactly nine percent better than Stony Brook from three-point range.
Stony Brook outscored Rutgers in each quarter, but only marginally, leading 17-15 after one quarter and 33-30 at halftime. The third quarter was more of the same, with the Seawolves taking a 50-45 lead into the final frame, but Rutgers could not recover from a 14-0 run early in the fourth quarter. Lester and Perkins picked up their fourth fouls towards the end of the third quarter, which forced Coquese Washington to limit their usage and allowed Stony Brook to dominate the interior even more, ballooning their lead to nearly 20 points by the end of the game.
In addition to Rutgers being outrebounded 45-30, the other statistic that explained the surprising loss was the turnover differential. The Scarlet Knights turned the ball over 19 times, including seven turnovers in Quarter 3, which allowed the Seawolves to stay in front despite shooting just 4-18 from the floor. Rutgers will have to clean up on turnovers and drastically improve their rebounding and play in the paint, as the schedule begins to ramp up with their first road trip to Auburn coming in eleven days.
Next up for the Scarlet Knights is another mid-major challenger in the Rhode Island Rams, who will visit Jersey Mike’s Arena on Thursday. As a part of the program’s annual Recess Game, which invites children to watch the team during the school day, tip-off will be bright and early at 11 AM with the live broadcast on Big Ten Plus.