Tag: Mara braun

Big Ten Tournament: Rutgers women’s basketball is looking to make a run

Rutgers women’s basketball plays in the Big Ten Tournament against Minnesota.

On Wednesday night, Rutgers women’s basketball will take on the Minnesota Golden Gophers in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament. Neither team exactly comes into the conference tournament with momentum.

Both Rutgers and Minnesota have each won one time in their last five games. Rutgers only win in that span came against Minnesota on February 13.

As Rutgers looks to win its second straight against Minnesota, they will need Destiny Adams and Erica Lafayette to have big nights. In her last five games, Adams has been a points machine with at least double-digit points every game during that span. She has gotten help from Lafayette, who has scored 31 combined points in her last two games.

 

However, they will have their hands full with Mara Braun. The Golden Gophers star is averaging a team-high 17.8 points per game. In Minnesota’s loss to Illinois on Sunday, Braun was a bright spot with 18 points and five rebounds.

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Additionally, Rutgers must play a complete game to finish the season strong. They have struggled to get back into games after getting off to slow starts. That is something that Minnesota will take advantage of.

 

Rutgers women’s basketball looks to get back on track against Minnesota

Rutgers women’s basketball is looking to get back on track this week.

After a promising start to February, Rutgers women’s basketball will be looking to get back in the win column on Tuesday against Minnesota. The Scarlet Knights have lost two straight and have not scored more than 59 points in that span.

As Rutgers tries to get back on track, they will have their hands full with a talented Golden Gophers team. So far this season, Mara Braun has led the way offensively for Minnesota, averaging 16.3 points per game. Mallory Meyer has also made her presence felt, averaging 8.2 rebounds per game.

For Rutgers to pull off an upset, they will need big games from their talented duo of Destiny Adams and Chyna Cornwell. So far this month, Adams has scored at least 10 points in every game, including 16 against Michigan on Saturday. Cornwell has set the tone on the boards, averaging 7.6 rebounds per game.

 

In their latest loss, Rutgers dug themselves into an early hole. They only scored 16 points in the first half against Michigan and were dominated in the paint. That made it hard for the Scarlet Knights to mount a comeback. A similar start against Minnesota would be fatal.

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While Rutgers will be the underdogs in this matchup, they will have the home-court advantage. That could be an advantage against a Minnesota team that has struggled In conference play.

Penn State women win opening game in Big Ten Tournament

Penn State women’s basketball wins first Big Ten tournament game since 2018.

It’s been a tough season for the Penn State Lady Lions.

In a loaded Big Ten conference, they finished the season with a 13-16 overall record and 4-14 in conference play. They closed the regular season with seven losses in a row, earning them the 13th seed in the tournament.

The Lady Lions did receive good news at the end of February when senior guard [autotag]Makenna Marisa[/autotag] was voted first team all-conference by the media. Averaging 17 points, four assists and four rebounds this season secured her second all-conference honor.

For a struggling team, the conference tournament can be a fresh start. The records are wiped out and all that matters is winning one game per day.

Penn State took advantage of this fresh start on Wednesday, beating Minnesota 72-67 in the opening game of the tournament.

Marisa led the team with 22 points, shooting just under 50%. Three other starts joined her in double figures. Underclassmen guards [autotag]Shay Ciezki[/autotag] and [autotag]Leilani Kapinus[/autotag] scored 16 and 11 points respectively, while fellow senior [autotag]Alexa Williamson[/autotag] added 11 as well.

This was a dominate effort for the Lady Lions. They never trailed in the game and led by 18 at one point. They also hit 49.1% of their shots and forced Minnesota into 22 turnovers.

[autotag]Mara Braun[/autotag] was the game’s leading scorer with 25 points. [autotag]Amaya Battle[/autotag] was the only other Golden Gopher to join Braun in double figures with 16 points.

Penn State now faces the fifth seeded Michigan Wolverines on Thursday. This will be a rematch of the early January game in Ann Arbor that saw the Lady Lions lose by 10.

The game will air on Big Ten Network 25 minutes after the conclusion of Michigan State and Nebraska on Thursday, March 2.

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