HACKENSACK, N.J. – FDU women's basketball (7-2, 0-0) gets ready to face their third high-major opponent of the season in the Rutgers Scarlet Knights (5-4, 0-1) on Wednesday night. The Knights will travel to Piscataway to face the Scarlet Knights at 7:00 p.m. Coverage will be available on Big Ten Plus.
Heading into the matchup, FDU is riding a three-game win streak, and is coming off of an impressive 2-0 week. Two Knight players took home Northeast Conference weekly honors in the past week of action;
Teneisia Brown was named the NEC/Atlantic Tomorrow's Office Player of the Week, and
Ava Renninger was named the NEC/Atlantic Tomorrow's Office Rookie of the Week.
Brown is coming off of a week that saw her record back-to-back double-doubles, averaging 17.0 PPG and 10.0 RPG. Renninger continues to light things up as one of the nation's best freshmen, leading FDU in scoring with 14.6 PPG.
Head coach
Stephanie Gaitley's squad has gotten off to a blistering start to the 2024-25 campaign. They hold a 7-2 record across non-conference play. The rest of the Northeast Conference combined has just ten non-conference wins. The Knights have also been slotted as a top 200 program in the nation according to the NCAA's NET Rankings. FDU slots in at the 187 spot in the latest release by the NCAA. The next closest NEC team is nearly 100 spots behind them, with Mercyhurst ranked at 275.
The scarlet-clad Knights on the opposite side are coming into the affair of a tough loss in their conference opener against Wisconsin. Rutgers went out to Madison on Sunday, December 8, and dropped a 66-64 battle in the last seconds.
Rutgers is a team with huge firepower on the offensive end, featuring two of the most dynamic scorers in the nation. Senior Destiny Adams leads the way with 19.7 PPG on 47.1% from the field. Rutgers also has a star freshman guard of their own in Kiyomi McMiller, who ranks third in the nation in freshman scoring, with 18.4 PPG on an efficient 45.8% from the field.
FDU fell to Rutgers in their previous match-up, which came back on December 10, 2017. FDU dropped that match-up by a score of 101-35 in Piscataway.
FDU will look to sweep the New Jersey series in their non-conference slate, as they currently stand 2-0 against New Jersey schools on the year (wins over Saint Peter's and Rider).
COMING SOON
FDU will hit a short break following the mid-week affair, and be back in action at home on Thursday, December 19 when they play host to Saint Michael's.
Connect with FDU Women's Basketball on X and Instagram, @FDUKnightsWBB.
Segovia Steakhouse is the presenting sponsor of the 2024-25 FDU Women's Basketball season.
