Women's Basketball Travels to Temple Monday

Monday, November 13

Philadelphia, Pa.

7:00 PM

Rutgers University

Temple

Nov 11 | Women's Basketball

Game Notes Watch Listen Live Stats Twitter

Scarlet Knights & Owls Tipoff at 7 p.m. on ESPN3

PISCATAWAY, N.J. - The Rutgers women's basketball team heads to Temple to meet the Owls on Monday night at McGonigle Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Tip off is set for 7 p.m. with a live stream available on ESPN3 with Dave Leno and Julianne Viani on the call and on the radio on the Rutgers IMG Radio Network with Ralph Bednarczyk and Mark Peterson.

ON TO THE CITY OF BROTHERLY LOVE
The Rutgers women's basketball team opened the 2017-18 season avenging last year's double overtime loss against James Madison. The Scarlet Knights downed the Colonial Athletic Association preseason favorites, 76-63, on the road behind 26 points in the return of guard Tyler Scaife, 10 points from senior guard Jazlynd Rollins and a near double-double of nine points and 14 rebounds in the Scarlet Knight debut of junior Caitlin Jenkins.

Rutgers led by as many as 21 points with 2:43 left in the third quarter before a JMU surge made it a two-point ball game, 55-53, with 6:54 left in the ballgame. The Scarlet Knights, however, never relinquished the lead and steadily increased the margin as time worn down. Down the stretch, RU went to the line 24 times as Scaife was clutch in hitting 8-of-10 from the stripe.

The Scarlet Knights meet Temple for the 52nd time in history with RU coming away the victors in seven of the last eight meetings. The two squads have squared off the last 17-straight seasons, including the 2013-14 season as members of the American Athletic Conference. Previously these teams were conference foes in the Atlantic-10 as well.

ABOUT TEMPLE
Temple opened up its season on Friday night, as well, with a 96-72 win over Delaware State. A pair of Owls logged double-doubles with senior Tanaya Atkins' 23 points and 13 rebounds and freshman Mia Davis' 21 points and 17 rebounds.

Last year, the Owls finished at 24-8 overall and with a 13-3 conference mark finishing second to Connecticut in the American Athletic Conference. Temple earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament falling to 10th-seeded Oregon, 71-70, in the first round. The Ducks sealed the win with a bucket with 5.5 seconds remaining followed by a block on the defensive end. It was the Owls first appearance in the tournament since 2011.

LAST TIME VS. TEMPLE
Concluding last season's nonconference slate, the Rutgers women's basketball team was topped by Temple in a 48-37 decision on at the RAC on Dec. 17, 2016.

The Scarlet Knights led by as many as 13 midway through the second quarter before the Owls made the comeback. After playing to a 26-18 halftime edge, RU was limited to just 11 points in the second, half while Temple poured in 30 in the turnaround.

Desiree Keeling paced the Scarlet Knights with her first career double-double, posting a career-high 14 rebounds to go with 10 points. Additionally, Keeling matched her career best with four rejected shots. Jazlynd Rollins added in six points.

Feyonda Fitzgerald led the Owls with a game-high 19 points, while Donnaizha Fountain followed with 15 points to round out the double figure scorers.

SEASON OPENER NOTES
RU improved to 30-14 all-time in season openers and 13-10 in openers under head coach C. Vivian Stringer.

Tyler Scaife's 26 points were the most scored by the Little Rock, Arkansas native since netting 26 against Ohio State in the Big Ten Tournament on March 4, 2016.

With her 14 boards, Caitlin Jenkins grabbed double figure rebounds for the 18th in her career. Her career-high is 18 set against Mississippi on Dec. 12, 2015. Jenkins' 14 rebounds were the most since teammate Desiree Keeling grabbed 14 against Temple on Dec. 17, 2016.

All 14 members of the available roster appeared in the season opener. The last time Rutgers had 14 Scarlet Knights on the court was in a 65-26 win over Savannah State on Dec. 13, 2015.

MILESTONE NUMBERS TO REMEMBER
Rutgers head coach Stringer has compiled a 978-390 career record over the last 46 seasons and is 22 wins away from joining Stanford's Tara VanDerveer and former Tennessee head coach Pat Summit with 1,000 career victories in women's basketball.

In 2013, Stringer became just the seventh coach - men's or women's - to reach the 900-win mark.

Stringer's 34 20-win seasons are second-best in women's basketball history. Former Tennessee head coach Pat Summit leads all coaches with 36 20-win seasons.

Stringer is the fourth active winningest Division I coach and sixth all-time in career wins in NCAA women's basketball history.

In the Dec. 3 win over Bucknell last season, the Rutgers women's basketball team played its 1300th game in history since beginning the program in 1974.

RU has gone 903-418 with the Scarlet Knights earning its 900th program victory in the 53-45 win over in-state rival Seton Hall on Dec. 13, 2016.

Other Big Ten programs with 900 or more wins include Penn State, who also reached the milestone during the 2016-17 season, Ohio State and Maryland.

Tyler Scaife is currently ninth on the Rutgers all-time scoring leaders list with 1,637 points. She needs 46 more points to move past Tanya Hansen (1988-92) to move into eighth place.

UP NEXT
The Rutgers women's basketball team closes out its season-opening road swing at Charlotte on Thursday, Nov. 16. The game set for 7 p.m. will stream on CUSA-TV and air on the Rutgers IMG Radio Network.

Follow Rutgers women's basketball at www.ScarletKnights.com and (@RutgersWBB) on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for all of the latest news and updates.

- RU -