COLUMBUS, OHIO – Rutgers women's basketball, taking on its second-straight top 25 opponent, suffered a setback at No. 13/13 Ohio State Thursday night, falling by a margin of 90-68 at Value City Arena.

RU fell to an overall record of 18-7 and Big Ten mark of 6-6, while Ohio State improved to 20-5 overall and 9-3 in league action.

Redshirt senior Tyler Scaife led the Scarlet Knights with 27 points, marking her 15th 20+ scoring effort of the season. Classmate Jazlynd Rollins contributed a season-high 14 points to round out the double-figure RU scorers. Junior center Victoria Harris registered a career-high 11 rebounds in the loss.

The Buckeyes were paced by the nation's active leading scorer in Kelsey Mitchell with 28 points. She was followed by Sierra Calhoun with 17 points while Linnae Harper added in 15 points and Alexa Hart posted 12 points in the win. Stephanie Mavunga registered a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds.

Ohio State finished the contest shooting 56.1 percent (32-of-57) from the floor, 50 percent from beyond the arc (11-of-22) and 83 percent (15-of-18) from the line.

Although the Scarlet Knights opened scoring, the Buckeyes went on to claim a 12-6 lead midway through the first quarter. Redshirt junior Stasha Carey gave the Scarlet Knights a spark, igniting a 9-4 run. Scaife capped the surge with a 3-pointer to pull RU within one, 16-17, with seconds to go in the first. Ohio State, however, countered with its own 6-2 burst, off 3-pointers from Calhoun and Mitchell, to generate a 22-17 lead at the end of the stanza.

Opening the second quarter, the Buckeyes continued success from beyond the arc and knocked in back-to-back 3-pointers to maintain momentum. A Mitchell layup with 6:31 left in the half grew Ohio State's lead to double-digits. With the Buckeye's 29 second quarter points, Ohio State carried a 51-30 lead into halftime.

Returning from the break, Rutgers and Ohio State traded points throughout the third quarter, as the Scarlet Knights would outscore the Buckeyes, 18-16, in the frame. RU discovered an 11-4 surge in the middle of the quarter, fueled by six points from Scaife, to cut into the margin, 60-41, at the 3:06 mark. Despite the brief scoring surge and balanced scoring between the squads helping Rutgers cut down the Buckeye's once 26-point lead down to 16 points, Ohio State moved into the fourth quarter ahead, 67-48.

Scoring remained balanced in the fourth quarter with the Buckeyes slightly outscoring the Scarlet Knights, 23-20, in the stanza. 
 
Up next, Rutgers returns home to finish its season series with No. 10/9 Maryland on Sunday. Tipoff is set for noon at the RAC with the game airing on BTN with Jason Horowitz and Christy Winters-Scott, as well as coverage available from the Rutgers IMG Radio Network with Ralph Bednarczyk and Mark Peterson on the call.

KNIGHT NOTES:
- Rutgers head coach C. Vivian Stringer's career record dropped to 995-398. She is five wins away from 1,000 career victories.
- With her 27 points, Tyler Scaife now has 2,119 career points. She needs 93 more to move into second place on the all-time list past Cappie Pondexter (2002-2006).
-  Jazlynd Rollins netted her seventh double figure scoring game of the season with a season-high 14 points. Her previous high was 13 in RU's 77-54 win at Charlotte on Nov. 16, 2017.
- Thursday's game marked Scaife's 15 20+ point scoring game of the 2017-18 season.
- Victoria Harris collected a career-high 11 rebounds. Her previous high was 10 boards in Rutgers' 75-57 nonconference finale with Houston on Dec. 16, 2017.
- Scaife also set a new season-high with seven rebounds. Her previous high was six also against the Cougars in the final nonconference contest of the season.
- Ohio State committed 12 turnovers, tying for the fewest miscues by an RU opponent this season. Virginia also had 12 turnovers in the Scarlet Knights' 52-43 victory on Dec. 4, 2017.
- The Buckeyes' 11 made 3-pointers tied for the most by a Scarlet Knight opponent this year. Minnesota also had 11 made shots from downtown in RU's 80-70 overtime victory.

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

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