PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Despite a close battle at the start, Rutgers women's basketball dropped its matchup with No. 10/9 Maryland on Sunday afternoon at the RAC.

RU, taking on its fourth-straight nationally ranked Big Ten foe, fell to an overall record of 18-9 and a Big Ten mark of 6-7, suffering just its second loss at the RAC this season to move to 13-2 on its home court.

Junior Victoria Harris posted her second career double-double to lead the Scarlet Knights, matching her career-highs with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Redshirt junior Stasha Carey nearly eclipsed a double-double of her own with 10 rebounds and nine points. Redshirt senior Tyler Scaife rounded out the double-digit scorers, posting 10 points in the lost.

The Terrapins were led by Eleanna Christinaki with a game-high 18 points. Stephanie Jones followed with 13 points, while Kristen Confroy added in 12 points. Kaila Charles and Ieshia Small each contributed 10 points in the win.

It was neck-and-neck out of the gate between Rutgers and Maryland, as the first quarter would see three ties and two lead changes. The teams went tit-for-tat to open the game with the score at 6-6, including six points for Harris, across the opening four minutes.

Maryland attempted to break away with a 5-0 burst, capped by a 3-pointer for Confroy. Rutgers, however, countered with a 6-0 burst, fueled by four more points from Harris, to put the Scarlet Knights in front, 12-11, at the 3:49 mark.

The Terps would follow with an 11-4 run, recording a 6-for-8 showing at the free throw line, to reclaim the lead 20-14. The Scarlet Knights responded outscoring the Terps, 5-2, as redshirt senior Kathleen Fitzpatrick sunk a buzzer-beating three to cut the margin back to three, 22-19, at the end of the frame.

Despite the Scarlet Knights keeping it as close as three to start the second frame, it was the Terps with a late push to take a 43-27 lead into halftime. Maryland closed the second quarter on an 13-1 run over the final 3:28 leading to the intermission, including seven unanswered points over the final 1:57.

Returning from the break, Maryland grew its lead to as many as 18, using successful trips to the charity stripe. Rutgers never let up, closing the third quarter with a 10-4 run and cutting the margin to nearly single-digits at 55-44.

The Scarlet Knights closed the gap to as little as 10 on two occasions in the fourth quarter. A Ciani Cryor layup saw RU trail, 64-54, with 2:49 to go, but Maryland would end the game on an 8-0 run.



Up next, Rutgers travels to Wisconsin for a midweek matchup on Valentine's Day. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. ET. on BTN Plus with coverage also available on the Rutgers IMG Radio Network with Ralph Bednarczyk on the call.

KNIGHT NOTES
- Rutgers head coach C. Vivian Stringer's career record dropped to 995-399. She is five wins away from 1,000 career victories.
- With her 10 points, Tyler Scaife now has 2,129 career points. She needs 83 more to move into second place on the all-time list past Cappie Pondexter (2002-2006).
- Victoria Harris notched her second career double-double with a career-high tying 13 points and career-high tying 11 rebounds. She also had 10 points and 10 rebounds in the nonconference final with Houston on Dec. 16, 2017.
- Harris has had back-to-back games with 11 rebounds.
- Stasha Carey was one point shy of her fourth double-double of the year with nine points and 10 rebounds. It was her fifth double-figure rebounding game of the season. Meanwhile, the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, native has averaged 9.7 points over the last three games.
- Rutgers committed 22 turnovers, the most since turning over the ball 25 times in the season opener at James Madison on Nov. 10.
 

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