PISCATAWAY, N.J. - The Rutgers women's basketball team meets Charlotte on Thursday with tip off set for 7 p.m. at Halton Arena. The game will be streamed on CUSA-TV and air on the Rutgers IMG Radio Network with Ralph Bednarczyk on the call.


HEADING TO THE QUEEN CITY
The Rutgers women's basketball team closes out its season opening road trip with its first ever meeting with the Charlotte 49ers on Thursday.

The Scarlet Knights are 2-0 after road wins at Colonial Athletic Association preseason favorite James Madison (76-63) last Friday and at Temple (84-67) on Monday. 

In both games, Rutgers took sizeable 20+ point leads only to have the opponent battle back to within single digits. However, against both the Dukes and Owls, the Scarlet Knights bounced back to control the game to re-establish double digits leads to end the contest.

On Monday night against Temple, four Scarlet Knights finished in double figures led by senior guard Jazlynd Rollins' 12 points. Junior center Victoria Harris and redshirt sophomore guard Ciani Cryor both added in 11 points in the win while Tyler Scaife dropped in 10.


 ABOUT CHARLOTTE
The 2017-18 49er nonconference schedule has a Big Ten flair to it as Rutgers is one of three teams from the conference Charlotte will face.

The 49ers are currently 1-1 on the year with a season opening 75-72 win at home against Duquesne followed by an 80-66 road loss at Wisconsin.

After taking on the Scarlet Knights, Charlotte will also face Iowa over Thanksgiving at the Puerto Rico Clasico now being held in Fort Lauderdale, Florida due to the aefects of Hurricane Maria.

Senior guard Amaya Ransom leads the 49ers at 15.5 points per game to go along with 5.5 rebounds per game. Meanwhile, junior guard Laia Raventos, freshman guard Octavia Wilson and redshirt senior forward Nyilah Jamison-Myers are all averaging 12.5 points per contest.

On the boards, Charlotte is led by redshirt sophomore forward Dara Pearson, who is grabbing 7.0 rebounds per game.

Jamison-Myers was voted to the Conference USA All-Preseason team in October. Last year, she set a single-game field goal percentage record with an 11-of-12 (91.7 percent) performance and finished with 23 points against Southern Mississippi. She ended the year with five double-doubles and averaged 10.5 points and 5.8 rebounds per game.

A year ago, the 49ers went 21-10 overall and 12-6 in CUSA reaching the quarterfinals of the conference tournament. 


WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES
Last season against Temple, Rutgers scored only 37 points against the Owls. Only Desiree Keeling reached double figures with 10 points.

On Monday night, the Scarlet Knights reached 37 points by the 3:44 mark of the second quarter and finished with 84 points with 11 of 14 Scarlet Knights getting into the scoring mix. Four Scarlet Knights finished in double figures.

Additionally, Rutgers has picked up two road wins after earning no road victories a season ago. Before downing the Dukes and Owls, RU's last victory away from the friendly confines of the RAC was back on Feb. 13, 2016 in a 63-56 win at Illinois.


INTO THE DEEP END
All 14 members of the available roster have appeared in the first two games of the 2017-18 season. Through two games, the Scarlet Knight bench is average 43.0 points per contest.

The last time Rutgers had 14 Scarlet Knights on the court was in a 65-26 win over Savannah State on Dec. 13, 2015.


ROUND & ROUND WE GO - WHO WILL SCORE - NOBODY KNOWS
Not only did Rutgers demonstrate its depth on Monday night at Temple, but also the fact that any Scarlet Knight can have a big quarter at any given time.

Redshirt sophomore Ciani Cryor put away all 11 of her points in the first quarter, including a 3-of-4 performance from long range in front of hometown friends and family.

The second quarter saw senior guard Jazlynd Rollins put away all of her team-leading 12 points as she went 5-of-7 from the field during the span.

Junior center Victoria Harris logged seven of her 11 points in the third quarter. As the Owls whittled a 24-point Scarlet Knight lead to single digits, Harris contributed five of RU's seven unanswered points to close the quarter as the Scarlet Knights went back up by double figures.

Sophomore Kate Hill, meanwhile, poured in all eight of her career-high points in the fourth quarter.


CLEANING THE GLASS
Junior transfer Caitlin Jenkins grabbed 14 rebounds in RU's season opening 76-63 win at James Madison on Nov. 10.

Jenkins' 14 rebounds were the most by a Scarlet Knight since teammate Desiree Keeling grabbed 14 against Temple on Dec. 17, 2016.

The Shreveport, Louisiana native may be familiar to CUSA fans. Jenkins spent the 2015-16 season at Southern Mississippi earning Second Team, All-Freshman and All-Defensive Team honors.

Before joining the ranks of the Scarlet Knights, Jenkins broke Southern Mississippi's all-time freshman rebounding record with 280 boards. 


WELCOME BACK T-SCAIFE
Redshirt senior guard Tyler Scaife returned to the hardwood after sitting out the 2016-17 season due to a medical redshirt to pour in 26 points in Rutgers' 76-63 season opening win at James Madison on Nov. 10.

Her 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. 


MILESTONE NUMBERS TO REMEMBER
Rutgers head coach Stringer has compiled a 979-390 career record in 47 seasons and is 21 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 905-418 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 1,647 points. She needs 36 more points to move past Tanya Hansen (1988-92) to move into eighth place.


UP NEXT
Following Thursday's game, RU returns home to the RAC for the first of 16 home games. The Scarlet Knights welcome Wake Forest at 6:30 p.m. with the Rutgers men tipping off against Coppin State beforehand at 12:30 p.m. 


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