MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. - Senior Rachel Hollivay (Columbus, Miss.) became Rutgers women's basketball's all-time leader in career blocks on Thursday night at Minnesota, but the Scarlet Knights ended the evening falling, 85-72, at Williams Arena.
Rutgers fell to an overall record of 13-10 and a Big Ten mark of 4-7, meanwhile, Minnesota improved to 15-7 overall and 7-4 in league play. The Gophers own a 11-2 mark on their home court, including four straight at Williams Arena.
Senior Kahleah Copper (Philadelphia, Pa.) reset her career-best for the second time this season, registering a game-high 31 points to go along with nine rebounds. Junior Tyler Scaife (Little Rock, Ark.) followed with 16 points, while freshman Aliyah Jeune (Westampton, N.J.) added in a career-best with 10 points to round out the double-figure scorers.
Minnesota had two scorers finish with 20+ points, including Rachel Banham with a team-leading 24 points and Carlie Wagner with 22 points. Shayne Mullaney contributed 17 points, while Joanna Hedstrom finished with 11 points in the win.
Although Rutgers jumped to a 6-2 lead to start the game, Minnesota's Banham notched five straight points to claim the lead for the Gophers at 7-6 by the 7:06 mark of the first quarter. Although Rutgers quickly reclaimed the edge on its following trip down the court, Minnesota countered with a 10-2 run to reclaim the lead for good at 17-10 with 3:16 remaining in the first frame.
Jeune ended the run with a three-pointer, to pull the Scarlet Knights within four, 17-13, however, the Golden Gophers would extend its lead to as many as 10 before closing out the opening stanza. Another Jeune basket from beyond the arc, set the margin at 23-16 moving into the second quarter.
Khadaizha Sanders (Kankakee, Ill.) drained a three-pointer to ignite a 5-2 burst for RU, cutting the deficit to four, 25-21, with 9:14 to go in the second. However, Minnesota thwarted the comeback with an 8-2 run across the next three minutes of play to extend its lead to 33-23. Rutgers never let up, adding in a 5-0 run of its own to diminish the gap to five, 33-28, with 6:07 to go.
The Scarlet Knights maintained momentum and trailed by only three, 43-40, heading into halftime.
Rutgers and Minnesota traded points to begin the third frame. Although RU kept the score as close as three on two occasions, Minnesota used a three-pointer from Hedstrom to fuel a 7-4 burst, setting the gap at 56-47 with 3:44 left in the third quarter.
The Scarlet Knights managed to reduce the deficit to five, 56-51, before the Gophers expanded their advantage back to 10 points, 61-51, at the end of three quarters.
Despite sophomore Shrita Parker (Va. Beach, Va.) draining a three-pointer to start things off in the fourth to bring the margin within seven, it as close as Rutgers would come as Minnesota go on to maintain at least a 10-point cushion for the remainder of the contest.
RU cut the deficit to 10 on two more occasions, holding the score at 68-58 with 6:36 minutes on the clock. However, the Gophers were able to hold off the Scarlet Knights, outscoring RU, 17-14, across the final minutes of play to seal the win.
The Rutgers women's basketball team is back to the court on Sunday, Feb. 7 at Penn State at 2 p.m.
KNIGHT NOTES:
- With her five rejections, Rachel Hollivay became Rutgers women's basketball's all-time leader in blocked shots surpassing Sue Wicks (1984-88). She has 295 career blocks.
- Hollivay needs five more blocks to become the first Scarlet Knight with over 300 career rejections.
- Hollivay ranks fourth all-time among all Rutgers basketball student-athletes in career blocked shots. Only Hamady Ndiaye (2006-10) (358), Roy Hinson (1979-83) (355) and James Bailey (1975-79) (304) have more career blocks.
- Hollivay's five blocks also marked the 14th time this season and 51st time in her career she has recorded three or more rejections in a game.
- Kahleah Copper set a new career-high with 31 points. It was her second career game with 30 or more points having collected 30 points in RU's season opening victory over St. Joseph's on Nov. 13. It was her sixth game this season with 20 or more points and 28th game of her career.
- Copper hauled in nine boards, just short of posting her ninth double-double of the 2015-16 season.
- Copper finished going 11-of-13 from the charity stripe. It was the most free throws made by the senior Scarlet Knight since sinking seven in the season opener at St. Joseph's on Nov. 13.
- Copper led the Scarlet Knights in scoring for the 11th time this season and 42nd time in her career.
- Aliyah Jeune netted a career-high 10 points, her first game in double digits. Her previous high was four in the first meeting with Ohio State on Jan. 4. She finished tonight's game going 4-of-6 from the floor, including 2-of-4 from three-point range.
- Khadaizha Sanders handed out seven assists for a new career mark. Her previous high was five against Iowa on Jan. 4.
- Rutgers trailed 43-40 at the half, but the Scarlet Knights' 40 first half points were the second most of the season and the most in Big Ten play to date. It was the most first half points since taking a 44-39 halftime edge against St. Joseph's in the season opener on Nov. 13.
- RU finished 6-of-14 from three point range shooting over 40 percent from long range for the eighth time this season.
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