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UNCASVILLE, CONN. – The No. 4 seed Rutgers Scarlet Knights used a big second half to run past No. 5 seed SMU for a 68-49 win in the first quarterfinal of the American Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Championship. 

Rutgers opened the game on 16-5 run in first 5:33, but SMU responded with a 15-4 run to tie the score at 20-20. The Mustangs outscored the Scarlet Knights 25-8 over the final 14 minutes of the first half, keyed by six makes from behind the arc, to take a six-point lead into the locker room.



The second half was controlled by Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights responded to SMU’s initial push, erasing the Mustang lead and using an 18-4 run over an eight-minute stretch to extend their lead into double digits with eight minutes to play.

Rutgers never relented down the stretch, outscoring SMU 44-19 in the second frame to seal a 19-point victory. The Scarlet Knights shot 51.9 percent in the second half while holding SMU to 21.7 shooting from the field.

Rutgers was led by Kahleah Cooper, who scored a team-high 22 points, including 18 in the second half, while The American Freshman of the Year Tyler Scaife added 18 points. SMU’s Keena Mays posted a game-high 23 points in the losing effort.

Rutgers advances to play the winner of the quarterfinal matchup between No. 1 seed UConn and No. 8 Cincinnati in Sunday’s semifinals at 1 p.m.