Jan. 16, 2015
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - The No. 24/22 Rutgers women's basketball team overcame an 18-point first half deficit to tie the game up with the Big Ten leading Terps with 17 minutes remaining, but ended the night dropping a 71-59 decision to No. 8/8 Maryland on Thursday night at the RAC.
Rutgers moves to an overall mark of 12-5 and 4-2 in the Big Ten. Maryland remains undefeated in conference action improving to 14-2 overall.
Kahleah Copper (Philadelphia, Pa.) led the Scarlet Knights for the seventh time this season with 16 points.Rachel Hollivay (Columbus, Miss.) followed with 14 points from off the bench, while Betnijah Laney (Clayton, Del.) added 12 points in the loss.
Briyona Canty (Willingboro, N.J.), returning from a bone bruise which has kept her sidelined the last four contests, nearly joined the double-digit scorers with eight points, six of which came in the second half alone.
Maryland was led by Laurin Mincy with a game-high 24 points as she shot 7-of-14 from the field and 9-of-10 from the free throw line. Lexie Brown and Shatori Walker-Kimbrough each registered 13 points in the victory and Brionna Jones capped off the double-figure scorers with a double-double with 12 points and 14 rebounds.
The Terps jumped to a 10-0 lead just two minutes into the contest and held the Scarlet Knights scoreless for nearly a five-minute span for its largest lead of the night, 25-7, at the 13:03 mark.
A 5-0 run midway through the half would help Rutgers pull within nine, 29-20, however, Maryland would go on to lead by as many as 13 points.
Down 37-24 with 5:17 to go until the intermission, Rutgers found a scoring burst going on a 10-1 spurt to pull within four, 38-34, with 1:19 to go in the half. Tyler Scaife (Little Rock, Ark.) put up a jumper to beat the buzzer, cutting RU's deficit to 40-36 entering halftime.
At the start of the second half, the Scarlet Knights quickly tied up the game as Canty nailed a jumper to tie the score at 40-40 with 18:12 remaining, but the Terps would not hand over the lead.
A Hollivay layup saw the Scarlet Knights trail just 50-48 with under 12 minutes to go, however Maryland proceeded to outscore RU, 10-2, for a double-digit edge that it would maintain the rest of the way.
The Terps were able to lead by as many as 14 in the second half, despite RU holding Maryland to under 36 percent shooting from the floor in the second half, a season-low.
Up next, the Rutgers women's basketball team travels to Wisconsin on Sunday, Jan. 18. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. ET.
KNIGHT NOTES:
- Starting line was Kahleah Copper, Tyler Scaife, Syssence Davis, Ariel Butts and Betnijah Laney. It was the second time the lineup was used.
- Rutgers fell to 1-4 against the Top 25 this season.
- Briyona Canty made her return to the court for the first time since the Big Ten opener at Indiana on Dec. 28. She had missed the last four games after suffering a bone bruise in her right knee against the Hoosiers five minutes into the contest. Canty returned for eight points and five rebounds in 19 minutes of action.
- Kahleah Copper led the team in scoring for the seventh time this season and 26th time in her career with 16 points. Copper went 5-of-13 from the field and 6-of-7 from the line.
- Copper also added in a season-high eight rebounds. Her previous high was seven boards in games with Wagner (Nov. 25), Colgate (Nov. 28) and at Temple (Dec. 10).
- Copper tied her season-high with four assists. She also dished the ball out four times against Iowa (Jan. 4) and Northeastern (Nov. 18).
- With her 16 points, Copper draws closer to becoming the 35th Scarlet Knight in the 1,000 career point club. She now has 988 career points, 12 shy of 1,000.
- Hollivay tied her season-high with 14 points from off the bench. She also had 14 points in RU's win at Temple on Dec. 10. Hollivay has collected double figures six times in 2014-15 and 21 times in her career. The junior Scarlet Knight shot 5-of-7 from the floor and 4-of-5 from the line.
- Rachel Hollivay swatted away the ball six times - a new season-high. Her previous high was five blocks in games with St. Joseph's (Nov. 14) and at LSU (Nov. 22). She has captured three or more blocks in a game eight times this season and 31 times in her career.
- Betnijah Laney was the third Scarlet Knight in double figures with 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field and a 2-of-2 effort from the line. Laney, who was in foul trouble early in the second half, played a season-low 30 minutes for the second time this season. She also was only on the court for 30 minutes against Colgate (Nov. 28). Laney entered Thursday night's contest averaging 36.5 minutes per game.
- Maryland's 14 turnovers were the fewest by an RU opponent since Tennessee's 13 miscues back on Dec. 14.
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