RUTGERS 62 – NORTHWESTERN 48
A career night on the boards for Chyna Cornwell combined with another stellar shooting night for Kaylene Smikle contributed to a 20-point fourth quarter as Rutgers stunned Northwestern 62-48 Wednesday night at Jersey Mike’s Arena.
Cornwell notched 17 rebounds in the victory – a new career best. Rutgers also forced 28 turnovers and scored 24 points off turnovers, which proved to be a huge key to the club’s success against the Wildcats.
10 seconds of Kaylene Smikle doing Kaylene Smikle things 👏#GoRU | #RUWBB | #B1GWBBall pic.twitter.com/SRibEff170
— Rutgers W.Basketball (@RutgersWBB) February 16, 2023
Meanwhile, Smikle dished out 21 points to lead the way on the glass for Rutgers. The performance was the 13th time this season Smikle has scored 20-or-more points in a game this year for Rutgers.
With Rutgers trailing 44-42 at the start of the fourth quarter, RU would outscore the Wildcats 20-4 the rest of the way. Smikle’s three-pointer with 4:30 to go in the game proved to be the back-breaker; it gave Rutgers a 50-46 lead, and they would never trail again the rest of the night — closing out the contest on a 12-2 run.
While both teams shot fairly similarly around 35 percent, Rutgers collected 46 rebounds, 16 steals and was a plus-9 in the turnover margin. Rutgers was also 7-for-11 from the charity stripe, and shot 42 percent from the floor in the quarter. Compare that to Northwestern who shot only 11 percent from the floor in the final stanza.