COLUMBUS, OHIO - Despite a double-double performance from senior Kahleah Copper (Philadelphia, Pa.) and a season-high in points for junior Tyler Scaife (Little Rock, Ark.), the Rutgers women's basketball team dropped its contest, 90-78, to No. 5/5 Ohio State on Sunday after noon at Value City Arena.

Rutgers overcame a 23-point third quarter deficit and found themselves within 10 midway through the fourth quarter. The comeback was thwarted however as the Buckeyes outscored the Scarlet Knights, 19-7, over the game's final five minutes.

RU fell to an overall record of 11-5 and a conference mark of 2-2, while OSU remained undefeated at league play improving to 4-0 against the Big Ten and 12-3 overall.

Scaife posted a season-high 27 points to lead Rutgers in the loss. Copper contributed 19 points and 11 rebounds for her sixth double-double of the year and third in the last four games.

Ohio State was led by Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year's Kelsey Mitchell game-high 31 points. Ameryst Alston added in 21 points, while Alexa Hart contributed 17 points of her own to round out the double-figure scorers.

The Buckeyes jumped to a 14-5 lead to start the game. After Ohio State took a 9-0 run, senior Ariel Butts (Columbus, Ga) ended a four-minute RU scoring drought hitting from beyond the arc as the shot clock expired to bring the score to 14-8 with 3:48 to go in the opening quarter. Ohio State, however, extended its lead to 20-10 at the end of the frame.

Although sophomore Shrita Parker (Virginia Beach, Va.) opened the second quarter scoring, Ohio State took control, moving to a 34-18 lead with 4:52 on the clock.

Following two free throws from Hollivay, Rutgers registered a 12-6 run to cut the deficit to 40-30 with 1:25 left until the half. Despite OSU maintaining the lead, a pair of free throws from Copper with time dwindling down diminished the margin to single-digits, 43-34, at halftime.

Rutgers continued to pick away at the Ohio State lead with a wire-to-wire battle to start the third quarter. A Khadaizha Sanders (Kankakee, Ill.) layup brought the margin to 48-40 by the 7:39 minute mark.

However, the Buckeyes built its lead back up to as many as 23 with a 73-50 advantage with under two minutes to go in the third.

A three-pointer from freshman Aliyah Jeune (Westampton, N.J.) ignited a 12-3 run for RU, capped by another three-pointer from Scaife, to bring the deficit to 76-65 with 7:32 remaining in the game.

Twice the Scarlet Knights whittled the Buckeye advantage down to 10 as a Scaife run to hole saw RU trail just 81-71 with 4:55 remaining. Ohio State however ended the game on its 19-7 run and went 7-of-7 from the free throw line down the stretch.

The Rutgers women's basketball team returns home to defend its seven-game home win streak hosting Illinois on Wednesday, Jan. 13 at 7 p.m.

KNIGHT NOTES:
- Tyler Scaife netted a team-high 27 points, a new season-high. Her previous high was 24 points against St. Joseph's in the season opener on Nov. 13 and vs. Arkansas on Dec. 6. She was two points shy of tying her career-high of 29 captured against Seton Hall in the third round of the WNIT on March 27, 2014.
- With her 27 points, Tyler Scaife moved up into the top 20 in scoring at Rutgers. She moved past Patti Sikorski (1976-80) and Khadijah Rushdan (2007-12) into 19th all-time. She now has 1,302 career points.
- Scaife captured her seventh 20+ point game of the season and 24th of her career. She has reached double-figure scoring in the last 10 consecutive games. Over the span, she has averaged 19.9 points.
- Kahleah Copper posted her sixth double of the season and 11th of her career with her 19 points and 11 rebounds.
- Kahleah Copper got closer to moving into ninth all-time in scoring with her 27 points. She needs four more points to surpass Epiphanny Prince (2006-09) and has 1,447.
- Ariel Butts connected on her first three-pointer marking the ninth Scarlet Knight this season to connect from downtown.
- Briyona Canty handed out a game-high seven assists. She has dished the ball out five or more times in nine matchups this season.
- Rachel Hollivay hauled in 10 boards marking her second game this season in double-figure rebounding.
- Rutgers is now 2-4 on the season when trailing at the end of the first quarter and halftime.
- Ohio State finished the game shooting 51.7 percent (30-of-58) from the field. The Buckeyes are only the second opponent to finish a game shooting better than 50 percent from the floor.
- Rutgers netted 30 points in the paint and over the last four games has averaged 28.5 points inside.
- The Buckeyes committed 20 turnovers resulting in 24 Scarlet Knight points. It was the third time in 2015-16 a RU opponent has recorded 20 or more miscues.
- In the last seven games, the Scarlet Knights have averaged 24.7 points off turnovers.

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