Feb. 11, 2015 Box Score | VIDEO: Postgame Press Conference | USATSI Gallery 
| VIDEO: Postgame Interview with Davis
COLLEGE PARK, MD. - The No. 18/17 Rutgers women's basketball team dropped a suspenseful rematch with No. 5/5 Maryland, falling 80-69 on Tuesday night at the Xfinity Center.
Snapping a six-game win streak, Rutgers moves to an overall record of 18-6 and 9-3 in the Big Ten. Maryland improves to 22-2 overall and remains undefeated in conference action with a mark of 13-0.
Betnijah Laney (Clayton, Del.) led the Scarlet Knights with a game-high 22 points. Kahleah Copper (Philadelphia, Pa.) followed with 19 points, while Tyler Scaife (Little Rock, Ark.) rounded out the double figure scorers with 10 points in the loss.
Maryland had four players in double digits. Lexie Brown led the way with 19 points, nine of which came from beyond the arc. Shatori Walker-Kimbrough added in 17 points, Malina Howard notched 15 points and Laurin Mincy closed the group with 14 points in the win.
The Scarlet Knights established a 17-12 edge with 12:13 left in the first half, however Maryland would go on to score 10-straight points to take over the lead and take off on a 21-4 run.
While the Terps held a 12-point advantage, leading 35-23 with 2:49 remaining until the intermission, the Scarlet Knights found a burst in the final minutes of the half. RU scored six-uncontested points to cut its deficit in half, 35-29.
Maryland, however, closed out the half with a jumper from Walker-Kimbrough at the buzzer to give the Terps a 37-29 lead as the teams entered halftime. It marked only the fourth time this season the Scarlet Knights have trailed at the break.
The second half continued to be a game of runs. Maryland expanded its lead to 41-31 as less than two minutes of second half expired. Rutgers found a spark though with a 6-0 run to pull within four, 41-37, with 16:08 left on the clock. The Scarlet Knights created themselves its closest margin since early in the first stanza.
Over the next six minutes of play, the Terps would lead by as many as nine points, but Shrita Parker (Va. Beach, Va.) nailed two free throws to close the gap to 52-48 with 11:56 remaining.
On Maryland's return down the court, Brown notched a three-pointer, sending the Terps on an 11-2 run to establish a 63-50 with nine minutes left.
Rutgers once again did not let up as the Scarlet Knights outscored the Terps, 10-4, including five straight from Copper, over the next two and a half minute to pull within seven, 67-60. However, that would be the closest RU would draw for the remainder of the night.
Back-to-back three-pointers from Brown gave the Terps its largest margin of the night, a 75-60 lead with 3:44 left on the clock.
Up next, the Rutgers women's basketball returns to the RAC to close out the season series with Purdue on Saturday, Feb. 14 at Noon. Fans are encouraged to wear pink for the annual Play4Kay game recognizing the fight against women's cancers.
KNIGHT NOTES:
- RU's starting lineup included Kahleah Copper, Tyler Scaife, Syessence Davis, Ariel Butts and Betnijah Laney.
- RU snapped a six-game win streak that started following the loss in the first meeting with Maryland on Jan. 15.
- The Scarlet Knights fell to 3-5 against the Top 25.
- Rutgers shot a perfect 13-of-13 from the free throw line, its best performance from the charity stripe since sinking 10-of-10 at Syracuse on Jan. 6, 2009. Betnijah Laney led the way going 4-of-4 from the line.
- Betnijah Laney led Rutgers with 22 points. It was her seventh game of the season and 16th of her career with 20 or more points. It was her highest scoring output in Big Ten play surpassing her previous high of 20 in the league opener against Indiana on Dec. 28.
- Laney's current double-double steak ended at four against the Terps as she hauled in six rebounds.
- With her 22 points Laney has moved into 20th all-time in scoring moving past Tammy Sutton-Brown (1997-01) and Essence Carson (2004-08) on the all-time scoring leaders list. Laney now has 1,266 career points and needs seven more points to surpass Lorrie Lawrence (1980-84).
- With her six rebounds, Laney is three rebounds shy of moving past Kathy Glutz (1976-80) into seventh all-time at Rutgers in rebounds. She currently has 833 career boards.
- Syessence Davis handed the ball out eight times against the Terps, the sixth time this season with eight or more assists and the 10th time this season with five or more assists in a game.
- Davis has 370 career assists and needs one more to crack the all-time top 10 list at Rutgers in the category and tie Telicher Austin (1985-89) for 10th on the list.
- Ariel Butts collected seven rebounds, the most since hauling in five in RU's win at Wisconsin on Jan. 18.
- Butts finished with three blocks to tie her career-high. She also had three rejections vs. Temple on Feb. 26, 2014.
- Rachel Hollivay posted six rebounds against Maryland. In the last three games - Nebraska, Michigan and Maryland - she has averaged 7.0 rebounds per game.
- The Terps held a 37-29 half time advantage, just the fourth opponent in the 24 games to date to hold a lead on the Scarlet Knights at the intermission.
- Rutgers held a 36-33 advantage on the glass. RU has won the battle on the boards in 18 of its 24 games to date.
- The Scarlet Knights' 19 turnovers were the most since the first meeting with the Terps on Jan. 15.
Follow Rutgers women's basketball on Facebook (www.facebook.com/RutgersWBB), Twitter (www.twitter.com/RutgersWBB) and Instagram (www.instagram.com/RutgersWBB) for all of the latest news and updates. Fans also receive timely information, including special offers and giveaways throughout the year on both social media outlets along with www.ScarletKnights.com.
-RU-
