Rutgers Women's Basketball Falls 81-63 to In-State Rival
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Rutgers women's basketball had a tough outing against in-state rival Princeton, as the Scarlet Knights fell 81-63 after taking the short bus trip down Route 1.
The Knights started off the game slowly on offense, as they were held off the board for the first three and a half minutes of play before Kaylah Ivey knocked down a three-pointer to put the Knights on the board. Princeton would start similarly, having several turnovers before its offense started rolling. Rutgers and Princeton would start to battle in the paint and trade shots, with the Knights even securing a small lead before the Tigers took it right back. Princeton would go into the second quarter up by two points.
The second quarter is when Princeton would start to flex its muscle, particularly in the paint and at the rim. The Tigers would go into the half with a five point lead over Rutgers, 36-31. This quarter showed the same concerning trend for the Knights as the first one did, long scoring droughts that force Rutgers to play from behind instead of keeping pace.
Despite a small push from Rutgers out of the break, they would still find themselves down by 7 points at the end of the third. Everytime the Knights looked like they might gain some momentum, Princeton swung it right back.
Back3⃣Back!
— Rutgers W.Basketball (@RutgersWBB) December 11, 2025
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Zachara Perkins would go down with an injury early at the start of the fourth quarter and would not return for the rest of the game. The short-handed Knights could not muster up enough offense to overcome the Tigers' fourth-quarter onslaught, as Princeton would pull away enough to win the game by 18 points.
Perkins was seen after the game with her arm in a sling. Rutgers head coach Coquese Washington did not have an injury update for her when asked.
The Tigers' Fatima Tall had the best performance of her collegiate career, as she scored 28 points on the night. 10 of those points came from free throws, as she hit all but one of her shots from the line. Nene Ndiaye led the way for the Knights, totalling 20 points and four rebounds in their losing effort.
One jarring statistic in this game was how poorly Rutgers did grabbing rebounds, especially on the offensive glass. The Knights had six rebounds on offense, while Princeton doubled that number at 12. It was those six that hurt Rutgers the most in this area as they grabbed the same amount of rebounds on defense as the Tigers did.
Rutgers is now preparing to enter its longest break of the season, with 10 days off before it welcomes Lafayette to Jersey Mike's Arena on Saturday, December 20th. The game will take place at noon, with live coverage being available on Big Ten Plus.
