Copper leads No. 24 Rutgers women over SMU 68-49

Mar 8, 2014, 04:12 pm

UNCASVILLE, Conn. -- Kahleah Copper scored 22 points and Tyler Scaife added 18 to help No. 24 Rutgers rally to beat SMU 68-49 on Saturday in the American Athletic Conference quarterfinals.

Trailing 35-31 early in the second half, the Scarlet Knights (22-8) went on a 18-4 run to take control. Scaife had six points and Copper had five during the spurt.

Scaife's two free throws made it 49-39 with 8:20 left in the game. SMU couldn't get closer than seven the rest of the way.

The Scarlet Knights will play Connecticut in the semifinals on Sunday afternoon. The Huskies won 72-42 over Cincinnati. UConn beat Rutgers by 30 points on the road and by 37 in Storrs last week.

Keena Mays scored 23 points to lead SMU (17-13). She helped the Mustangs build a 30-24 halftime lead hitting five 3-pointers in the first half. SMU scored the first five points before Rutgers went on a 16-0 run. Then Mays took over as the Mustangs outscored the Scarlet Knights 25-8.