PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) - With her team in a four-game funk, Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer let her players figure out how to get out of it.
A couple good practices later and the Scarlet Knights ended the skid with a 63-56 win over No. 13 Michigan on Sunday.
Reserve Ciani Cryor matcher her season high with 16 points, nine in a late 12-0 run, to help stop the losing streak.
“We got tired of losing, let’s just play for each other,” Stringer said. “It was an outstanding game against an outstanding team. We needed to win.”
The Wolverines had erased an eight-point deficit with seven quick points when Cryor banked in a 3-pointer to make it 51-47 with 6:15 to play. Tyler Scaife followed with a jumper that just beat the shot clock and Michigan never recovered, missing five straight shots with four turnovers during the run.
“It started in practice. Our energy was a lot better, we were tuned in,” Scaife said. “We knew we needed to get a big win. We don’t like losing in our house either. We take pride in our fan base.”
Rutgers is 13-1 at home this season and beat a ranked team for the first time since Feb. 9, 2015 when the Scarlet Knights topped Nebraska. They were 0-13 since then against Top 25 teams.
Stasha Carey added 12 points for the Scarlet Knights (18-7, 6-5 Big Ten).
Katelynn Flaherty had 19 points in her return to her home state to lead the Wolverines (19-6, 8-4) and Hailey Brown scored 15.
Rutgers closed the first half on a 7-0 run, capped by Cryor’s 28-foot 3-pointer at the buzzer, to lead 28-21. Scaife, who averages 19.8 points, was scoreless in the first half, finishing with seven.
TIP-INS
Michigan: The Wolverines are still one win shy of 20 on the season. Michigan is trying to win at least 20 games for a school-record seventh straight year.
Rutgers: Coach Stringer is now five victories short of becoming the fifth Division I coach - and sixth overall - to reach 1,000 wins. She’ll join Pat Summitt, Tara VanDerveer, Geno Auriemma and Sylvia Hatchell. Division III coach Barbara Stevens also reached 1,000 wins this season.
MISCUES
Michigan had 26 turnovers in the game that led to 29 points for Rutgers. The Wolverines have been up and down this season taking care of the basketball.
“A lot of unforced, we turned it over trying to get out in transition,” Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico said. “We wanted to try and get out in transition, but that led to turnovers and bad decisions.”
HOMECOMING
The game served as a homecoming for Flaherty, who grew up in New Jersey. She had a lot of friends and family in attendance as did coach Barnes Arico, who is from New York, but lived in New Jersey for a few years when she coached at St. John’s.
UP NEXT
Michigan: hosts Northwestern on Thursday.
Rutgers: At No. 18 Ohio State on Thursday.
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