PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers women's basketball opened its 2018-19 season with a dominant 96-52 victory over St. Francis on Tuesday night at the RAC.

Ten different Scarlet Knights contributed to scoring, as five registered double-digits and three notched double-doubles. Sophomore forward Mael Gilles led the way with 13 points and a team-high 16 rebounds, followed by Redshirt-senior forward Stasha Carey with 13 points and 11 rebounds and senior forward Caitlin Jenkins with 15 points and 15 rebounds.

All together, Rutgers hauled in 73 total rebounds setting a school and RAC record.

Freshman guard Noga Peleg Pelc joined the double-digit scorers with a team-high 15 points, while redshirt sophomore guard Arella Guirantes rounded out the stat sheet with 14 points.

St Francis was led by Aunesha Williams with 11 points followed by Jess Kovatch with 10 points.
 

The home opener for @RutgersWBB was a successful one as they were able to snag a win vs St. Francis, 96-52! Check out a recap here! #GoScarletKnights pic.twitter.com/Jmldfry3G3

— BTN Student U (@BTNStudentU) November 7, 2018

FIRST QUARTER
Rutgers jumped to a 10-4 lead to open the game, as a 3-pointer for Charise Wilson capped the burst. Saint Francis cut into the advantage with a 3-pointer from Kovatch, followed by an extra point, setting the score at 10-8.

The Scarlet Knights, however, regenerated its lead with a 10-0 surge, fueled by four points from Caitlin Jenkins for a 20-8 score. The Red Flash tacked on a jumper to make it a 10-point margin at the end of the quarter.

SECOND QUARTER
Rutgers quickly extended its double-digit lead with a 16-5 run to start the second frame. A total of five different Scarlet Knight contributed to the run to set the score at 36-15 with 4:51 remaining until halftime.

RU continued its dominance by outscoring SFU, 26-9, for the remainder of the first half. A jumper for Peleg Pelc would give RU its largest lead at that point of the night at 50-21.

The Scarlet Knights, ultimately, carried a 50-24 advantage into halftime.

THIRD QUARTER
Midway through the third quarter the Scarlet Knights grew the margin to 30 with a score of 59-29 by the 4:55 mark. RU would hold at least a 28-point edge for the remainder of the frame, growing the margin to 74-41 moving into the final quarter.

FOURTH QUARTER
The Scarlet Knights held a margin over 30 for the final frame, holding the Red Flash to just three points. Guirantes registered nine points to lead RU in the closing stanza, becoming the fifth RU player to reach double-digit points.

Peleg Pelc beat the buzzer with a jumper to seal the final margin of 96-52.

UP NEXT
Rutgers hosts Stony Brook on Friday, Nov. 9. Tipoff time has been moved up with 12 p.m. ET at the RAC.



KNIGHT NOTES

• The 73 rebounds are a school and RAC record. The previous RAC record was 65 Rutgers vs. Fairleigh Dickinson on Dec. 2, 1980 while the previous school record was 68 on four occasions in contests with Rhode Island on Jan. 11, 1979,  Long Island, on Jan. 27, 1979 68, William Paterson on Jan. 17, 1980 and West Virginia on Jan. 9, 1994.
• The victory gave head coach C. Vivian Stringer her 998th career win.
• Three Scarlet Knights finished with double-doubles.
•  RU last had two Scarlet Knights with double-double last season with Caitlin Jenkins poured in 10 points and 11 rebounds and classmate Victoria Harris collected 10 points and 10 rebounds in the nonconference finale with Houston on Dec. 16, 2017.
•  Last time Rutgers had five Scarlet Knights in double figures was against Penn State on Feb. 7, 2016 with Kahleah Copper (20), Tyler Scaife (15), Rachel Hollivay (13), Briyona Canty (11) and Khadaizha Sanders (11).
•  For Jenkins, it was her 19^th career double-double. For Carey, she posted her 18^th career double-double.
•  It was new career marks for Mael Gilles with her first Rutgers double-double. Her previous scoring high was six points at Charlotte on Nov. 16, 2017 and her former rebound record was seven against FDU on Dec. 10, 2017.
•  RU's 50 points at the half were the most since the Scarlet Knights netted 51 at the intermission against FDU on Dec. 20, 2017.
•  St. Francis' Jessica Kovatch, the NCAA active leading scorer who averaged 24.4 last season, was held to 12 points on 3-of-18 shooting.
• Redshirt junior Ciani Cryor will miss the first 10 games of the season due to a violation of team policy.

 
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