WBB Topped By No. 6 Maryland
Feb 21 | Women's Basketball
Box Score | RVISION: Postgame Press Conference
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Facing its second ranked opponent in as many games, the Rutgers women's basketball was topped by No. 6/6 Maryland, 73-59, on Sunday afternoon at the RAC. Four Scarlet Knights finished the contest scoring double-figures.
The Scarlet Knights dropped to an overall record of 16-12 and a mark of 7-9 in Big Ten action. Meanwhile, the Terrapins improved to 25-3 overall and 14-2 in the league.
Senior Kahleah Copper (Philadelphia, Pa.) led all scorers with a game-high 23 points, including a 3-for-3 performance at the three-point range. Classmate Rachel Hollivay (Columbus, Miss.), junior Tyler Scaife (Little Rock, Ark.) contributed 11 points each, while sophomore Shrita Parker (Va. Beach, Va.) added in 10.
Shatori Walker-Kimbrough led the Terrapins with 21 points in the win. Brionna Jones followed with 14 points, while Brene Moseley added in 10 points to round out the double-figure scorers.
Rutgers and Maryland opened the contest trading points in a first quarter that saw three ties and five lead changes. After a three-pointer from Copper put RU in front, 7-6, midway through the stanza, the teams would balance the score at 10-10 with 3:10 to go.
Maryland generated the largest lead for either side in the first quarter at 14-11, however, Scaife beat the buzzer to bring the score to 14-13 at the end of the first frame.
The battle continued through the beginning half of the second quarter, as a jumper from Copper held the Maryland lead at 19-17 with 5:49 on the clock. The Terps would then go on to outscore the Scarlet Knights, 15-4, to carry a 34-21 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Although the squads were more evenly balanced in the third quarter, Maryland maintained its edge, going ahead 45-27 by the 5:10 mark of the third.
From there, Copper registered a three-pointer to ignite an 11-8 surge for RU, to bring the deficit to 53-38 with less than a minute to go in the stanza. However, a three-pointer from Kiah Gillespie re-extended Maryland's advantage to 56-38 by the end of the third quarter.
Maryland edged RU, 9-5, to start the fourth quarter, registering its new largest margin at 63-41 with 6:39 remaining in the contest. It was a three-pointer from Parker that cut the deficit to 65-46, sending RU on a burst of its own. The Scarlet Knights outscored the Terps, 9-4, capped by five straight points from Copper to bring the score to 69-55 with a little under two minutes to go.
However, the late RU rally could not cut into the deficit enough, as Maryland held at least a 14-point cushion for the game's final margin.
Up next, Rutgers hits the road for a matchup at Purdue on Thursday, Feb. 25, before heading home for Senior Knight on Sunday, Feb. 28. Both games will be available on BTN.
KNIGHT NOTES
- Rachel Hollivay became the first Scarlet Knight with 100 or more blocks in multiple seasons. Hollivay set the single-season RU rejection record during her sophomore campaign with 127.
- Tyler Scaife became the 12th Scarlet Knight to reach the 1,500 career point mark.
- With her 11 points against the Terps, Scaife now has 1,507 career points and moved past June Olkowski (1978-82) into 11th on the all-time scoring leader list. She needs 46 more to move into 10th all-time and surpass Epiphanny Prince (2006-09).
- Kahleah Copper led RU in scoring for the 14th time this season and 50th time in her career with her game-high 23 points.
- Copper reached the 20+ scoring mark for the ninth time this season and 31st time in her career. She has averaged 20.3 points per game in the last six games.
- Kahleah Copper needs 15 more points to move into sixth on the all-time scoring leaders list moving past Caroline DeRoose (1990-94). She currently has 1,748 career points.
- Copper tied her season-high with four assists. She also had four assists in the first meeting with Michigan State on Jan. 19.
- Shrita Parker also tied her career-high for the fifth time with four assists. She last had a four assist effort against Illinois on Feb. 13.
- Parker also set a new career-high in rebounds hauling in seven boards. Her previous high was six rebounds last registered against Northwestern on Feb. 10.
- Maryland collected 40 points in the paint, the most paint points by an RU opponent this season and most since Ohio State on Jan. 10 and Florida State on Dec. 3 registered 36 points.
- Rutgers was outrebounded 41-26 with the Terps' 15-board margin the largest by an opponent this season.
- In all, RU had four in double figures. Four or more Scarlet Knights have registered double figures in a game six times this season.
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