PISCATAWAY, N.J. - The Lafayette women's basketball team's four-game winning streak was snapped by Rutgers Friday night in the 69-48 loss inside
Jersey Mike's Arena. Junior guard
Abby Antognoli led the Maroon and White in scoring, finishing with 15 points on 6-for-14 shooting. Junior forward
Halee Smith also finished in double figures, tallying 11 points while shooting 60 percent from downtown.
The Leopards led in the early minutes (5-0) after Antognoli drained a triple and senior guard
Makayla Andrews (eight points) finished a layup off a turnover by Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights then went on a 10-0 run before Smith knocked down a three-pointer to cut the deficit to two points. At the end of the first quarter, Lafayette trailed 15-8.
Rutgers opened the final 10 minutes of the first half with a 12-3 run thanks to buckets by four different players. The Scarlet Knights outscored the Leopards 18-9 in the period, granting Rutgers a 33-17 lead heading into halftime.
Coming out of halftime, both teams traded baskets early. With 7:20 to go in the third quarter, junior guard
Kylie Favours (eight points) buried a triple to cut the Leopards' deficit to 17 points. Rutgers out-rebounded Lafayette 16-7 in the quarter stretching its lead to 26 points with 1:46 remaining. A three-pointer from Smith and a fast break layup from Andrews cut Rutgers' lead to 51-30 entering the final 10 minutes of action.
Both squads dropped in 18 points in the final quarter of the game. Smith knocked down her third three of the game just 30 seconds into the fourth quarter. Each team continued to trade baskets, but Rutgers' size proved to be difficult to contain. When the final horn blared, Rutgers captured its fifth win of the season, 69-48.
The Scarlet Knights grabbed 22 more rebounds than Lafayette, scoring 16 second-chance points. The Leopards turned the ball over four fewer times and shot 11 percent better from downtown.
Lafayette takes the court again at 7 p.m. on Wednesday as the team travels to South Bend, Ind. to face No. 18 Notre Dame.
