ST. THOMAS, USVI - The Rutgers women's basketball team handed Virginia its first loss of the 2015-16 season on Friday and improved to 2-0 at the Paradise Jam with a 60-48 victory over Cavaliers.

The Scarlet Knights (4-2 overall) ended the game with three in double figures, once again led by senior Kahleah Copper (Philadelphia, Pa.) with 21 points and eight rebounds, while classmate Ariel Butts (Columbus, Ga.) and sophomore Shrita Parker (Va. Beach, Va.) both added in new career-highs in scoring. Parker came off the bench for 11 points, while Butts contributed 10 points and hauled in eight rebounds in the victory.

The Cavaliers were led by Lauren Moses with 18 points, while Mikayla Venson had 10 points in the loss. It was a game of runs in the opening quarter with Rutgers racing out to an 8-2 lead and extending its advantage to 10-5 with 4:55 on the clock. The Cavaliers responded with their own run, scoring six unanswered points to take its first lead of the game. The lead, however, was short lived. Butts drove to the basket and despite the foul, the ball rolled around the rim and in to put Rutgers back on top, 14-11.

The Cavaliers regained the lead with five unanswered points, but Rachel Hollivay (Columbus, Miss.) sunk two free throws with 10 seconds to go in the first quarter to send the game into the second quarter tied at 16-16.

A Lauren Moses jumper moments into the second quarter would give Virginia its last lead of the game. Despite a five-minute scoring drought that would allow Virginia to knot the score at 21-21 with 3:48 left until the half, Rutgers remained in control. The Scarlet Knights ended the drought fueled by a deep three from Parker from the top left of the arc and entered the half up, 29-27.

Virginia came out the locker room to outscore RU, 6-4, to open third quarter action and tie the game at 33-33, but the Cavaliers came no closer the rest of the contest. The Scarlet Knights punched back with a 7-0 run capped by Copper draining the ball from long range to put Rutgers ahead, 40-33, with 2:38 left in the third quarter.

The Cavaliers dropped in free throws to start off the fourth quarter and cut its deficit down to two, 42-40, with 8:39 remaining, but a 13-2 run, including seven unanswered points by Rutgers, put the game away. The Scarlet Knights took a double figure advantage with 4:51 left at 53-42 and went on to lead by as many as 13.

The Rutgers women's basketball team closes out its time on St. Thomas on Saturday, Nov. 28 with Green Bay. Tip off is set for 3:15 p.m. (ET)/4:15 p.m. (AT)

KNIGHT NOTES
- Kahleah Copper dropped in over 20 points in a game for the third time this season and has averaged 24.5 points in the two games of the Paradise Jam.
- Copper, who has put away double figures in her last 17 contests dating back to last season, has led RU in scoring in four of the season's six contests and 38 times in her career.
- With her 21 points against the Cavaliers, Copper brought her career total to 1,391 points. She needs 11 more points to surpass former teammate Betnijah Laney for 14th on the all-time Rutgers scoring leaders list.
- Shrita Parker's 11 points are a new career-high surpassing her previous high of nine points netted against Michigan at home last season and more recently, last Sunday, against Temple. Parker finished the game 4-of-5 from the field, including going 2-of-2 from downtown.
- Ariel Butts also set a new career-high with 10 points against the Cavaliers. Butts went a perfect 5-of-5 from the floor. She resets her former high of eight recorded vs. Temple on Feb. 26, 2014. Her field goals made are also a new benchmark.
- The Scarlet Knights captured its largest rebounding margin of the season, out hauling the Cavaliers, 38-28. Kahleah Copper, Ariel Butts and Briyona Canty all grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.
- Briyona Canty also dished out the ball six times and registered a trio of steals. It was her fourth game this season and 25th time in her career with five or more helpers in a contest. It was also Canty's third game of 2015-16 and 20th time in her career with three or more thefts in a game.
- Rachel Hollivay swatted away four Cavalier shots marking the third time this season and 40th time in her career with three or more blocks in a game. She now has 234 career rejections and needs 12 more to surpass Tanya Hansen (1988-92) for fourth place on RU's all-time blocks leaders list.
- Rutgers continues to shoot well from three-point range hitting 3-of-4 from long range against Virginia.

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