PISCATAWAY – Though the Rutgers women’s basketball team is in a tough stretch of the season, a bright spot arrived Sunday afternoon – though in a loss to Big 10 foe Nebraska:
Freshman star Kiyomi McMiller was back.
The guard from Maryland who finished her high school career in New Jersey playing for a Burlington County school was back in the staring lineup after missing two games for reasons that haven’t been made entirely clear. Regardless, she put on a show against the Cornhuskers with a game-high and career-high 33 points with each basket better than the last – whether it was flashy crossovers, splitting screens, step back jumpers, or logo three-pointers, McMiller seemed to make it a point of emphasis that her absence had not hindered her game.
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Rutgers lost 69-62, with the Scarlet Knights’ record falling to 8-9 (0-6 in league games).
McMiller was not made available to media after the game. Head coach Coquese Washington didn’t clear up the mystery on why McMiller sat out against No. 4 USC last Sunday and Minnesota (also receiving votes in the AP poll) on Wednesday, insisting “there was nothing that led to it…she’s back with our team.”
“We’re happy to have her back and I don’t have anything to explain. She’s back on our team, back at practice, we got through practice everyday and try to figure out how we’re going to approach the game as far as lineups and all that and it was nothing more than that,” Washington said.
Destiny Adams, a fourth-year player out of Manchester High School who recently went over 1,000th points for her career (including two years at North Carolina), added a double-double for Rutgers (12 points, 10 rebounds).
Rutgers women’s basketball showing grit despite tough Big 10 schedule
It doesn’t get easier for Rutgers with games against three ranked or recently ranked opponents coming up – this after Rutgers had to face three ranked opponents a week prior. Despite the losing streak, the Scarlet Knights still showed grit when they found themselves down early in the first quarter, eventually capturing a narrow lead in the third quarter before losing it.
Washington said he’s confident that her team is up for the challenge ahead.
“I don’t think that’s hard because they’re competitors,” Washington said. “They’re fighters and they are a team full of young ladies that want to be their best, and since we’ve returned from Christmas this portion of the season has been a grind. So we’re just working through it and working to get better everyday and get back at it tomorrow.”
