PISCATAWAY, N.J. -  The Rutgers women's basketball team kicks off the New Year closing out nonconference action in its first-ever meeting with Brown on Friday at 7 p.m. at the RAC.

HOW TO WATCH
Friday's game will be streamed on BTN2Go with Lou Brogno (play-by-play) and Dom Savino (color).

To learn more about BTN and BTN2Go, click here.

ON THE AIRWAVES
Friday's game air will on the Rutgers Radio Network on WCTC 1450AM, with Ralph Bednarczyk (play-by-play) and Mark Peterson (color).

PROMOTIONS

• GIVEAWAY: RAC Magnets
• HALFTIME: Junior Knights Dance Team
• All Rutgers students can bring up to two guests for free with ID

WELCOME TO 2019
The Rutgers women's basketball team opens the New Year closing out its nonconference slate with a home contest against Brown on Friday evening. 

RU closed out 2018 in a big way with the Scarlet Knights earning its first top 10 victory since 2009 in a 73-65 win at #4/4 Maryland on New Year's Eve.

Four Scarlet Knights registered double figures in the first win over the Terps since the two programs became conference foes in 2014-15. 

Redshirt senior forward Stasha Carey came off the bench for 18 points, while redshirt junior guard Ciani Cryor nearly captured a triple double with 12 points, nine rebounds and 11 assists. Graduate student guard Charise Wilson and freshman Noga Peleg Pelc contributed 10 points each in the win.

The Scarlet Knights led for a majority of the contest, leading by as many as eight, but Maryland came back to take a 53-52 edge with 6:32 to go. Peleg Pelc, in the midst of scoring eight-straight points for RU, hit a jumper just inside the 3-point arc and returned the lead to RU for good. 

ABOUT BROWN
Brown, like the Scarlet Knights, closes out nonconference action on Friday night wrapping up a seven-game road swing and comes to Piscataway owning an 8-7 overall record. The Bears have swung back and forth between the win and loss columns the last four games and is coming off a 75-62 win at Adelphi on Wednesday.

The Bears have four in double figures led by Justin Gaziano at 19.6 points per game. Shayna Mehta is second in scoring at 17.2 points per contest to go along with a team-second best 6.1 rebounds per game. Additionally, Taylor Will is adding in 11.0 points per game, while Mary Butler is contributing 10.9 points to go with a team-leading 7.2 rebounds per outing.

More recently, Steeves and Mehta were just shy of performing triple doubles in Brown's' 109-102 double overtime setback at Northern Illinois on New Year's Eve. Steeves posted 22 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists, while Mehta captured 13 points, nine rebounds and nine assists.

A WIN OVER THE RANKED
Rutgers garnered the upset over No. 4/4 Maryland on New Year's Eve with the 75-68 victory.

The win was RU's first over a top 10 program since 2009 when the unranked Scarlet Knights defeated No. 8 Auburn, 80-52, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on March 23, 2009 at the RAC.

The victory was the Scarlet Knights' first over a top five program since No. 7 Rutgers upset No. 1 UConn,  at the RAC on Feb. 5, 2008.

The win was Rutgers first top 25 road victory since a 64-52 win at No. 25 Arkansas on Dec. 8, 2014.

The victory also marked the first top 10 road win since a 64-45 win over No. 10 Arizona State in the Elite Eight en-route to a championship game appearance in the 2007 NCAA Tournament.

TOPPING THE TERPS 
Rutgers win at Maryland on Dec. 31 marked the first win over the Terps since the two programs joined the Big Ten Conference in 2014-15. Maryland has won the first seven meetings in the series.

The victory also saw the Scarlet Knights dominate the glass against one of the top rebounding programs in the nation. The Scarlet Knights won the war on the boards, 38-28. Maryland entered the New Year's Eve game as one of the top rebounding teams in the nation ranking second in rebounding margin (17.0) and fifth in rebounds per game (48.3).

A LOSS IS STILL A LOSS, BUT...
RU's first loss of the season was to a Drake squad that sits at 8-4 overall and has appeared in the Top 25 this season. The Bulldogs posted a victory over then No. 12/13 South Carolina to take third place at the Vancouver Showcase. 

Gonzaga sits at No. 17/18 in the polls including a 79-73 win over then-No. 11 Stanford. The Bulldogs are 13-1 on the season with the lone loss coming against defending national champion Notre Dame at the Vancouver Challenge. 

Virginia Tech remains undefeated at 13-0 and cracked the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll Top 25 this week at No. 25.

All together, the three teams that have managed to defeat the Scarlet Knights are a combined 34-5 on the 2018-19 season.

SCORING MILESTONES TO WATCH
While it was head coach C. Vivian Stringer with her 1,000th victory earlier this season, two Scarlet Knights are nearing the 1,000 milestone in scoring.

Redshirt senior forward Stasha Carey is 41 points away from joining the 1,000-point career club, while graduate student guard Sierra Calhoun is 90 points away from the milestone.

NATIONALLY SPEAKING
Thru the first 12 games of the season, Rutgers ranks among the top 25 nationally in three categories.

The Scarlet Knights are checking sixth nationally in field goal defense (.324), seventh in scoring defense (51.4) and 22nd in blocks per game (5.3).

B1G SPEAKING
Among conference peers, Rutgers currently ranks:

Scoring Defense  - 1st  - 51.4
Field Goal Pct. Defense  - 1st - .324
Steals - 1st - 10.5

The following Scarlet Knights are ranked among conference peers:
Victoria Harris - 3rd - Steals  - 1.6
Stasha Carey - 8th - Steals  - 1.6  / 8th - Blocks  - 1.5
Caitlin Jenkins  - 10th - Rebounding  - 8.2

PROTECTING HOMECOURT
Since the 2002-03 season, the Scarlet Knights have gone 198-46 (.811) at the RAC.

RU is 19-3 over the last two seasons at home and is currently 6-0 at the RAC in 2018-19. 

Last season, Rutgers went 13-3 at home last season. The Scarlet Knights won their first 12 contests at the Rutgers Athletic Center before dropping a 52-42 contest to Nebraska on Jan. 21. It was RU's longest home win streak since winning 20-straight RAC wins between Nov. 16, 2007 and Dec. 29, 2008. 

D-D-D-DEFENSE
The defense turned up the pressure last season  leading the Big Ten in scoring defense holding opponents to just 59.3 points per game. 

Twenty-nine of RU's 32 opponents were held under their scoring average.
 

	Avg. Total Points Entering Game	Total Points vs. Rutgers
JMU	70.2	63
Temple	96.0	67
Charlotte	70.5	54
Wake Forest	71.7	51
South Carolina	88.2	78
Washington St.	69.7	64
Siena	67.3	63
NC State	71.9	53
Virginia	63.2	43
Seton Hall	81.1	45
FDU	63.0	35
Princeton	65.8	50
Houston	73.9	57
Purdue	68.8	50
Michigan State	79.6	58
Illinois	64.8	37
Penn State	70.4	65
Purdue	66.1	47
Minnesota	86.2	70
Penn State	70.1	70
Nebraska	70.9	52
Indiana	68.2	64
Maryland	85.1	88
Michigan	77.1	56
Ohio State	85.7	90
Maryland	84.0	72
Wisconsin	60.9	50
Iowa	79.7	77
Northwestern	62.1	63
Purdue (B1G)	66.3	60
Ohio State (B1G)	85.3	82

So far in 2018-19, the trend has held steady with all 12 opponents under their scoring average. 
 

	Avg. Total Points Entering Game	Total Points vs. Rutgers
St. Francis (Pa)	80.9	52
Stony Brook	62.6	47
CCSU	62.5	44
Albany	43.7	39
Drake	82.5	69
Gonzaga	68.8	57
ETSU	61.7	44
Va. Tech	78.3	67
Harvard	68.3	49
LSU	63.9	43
Northwestern	71.5	41
Maryland	78.2	65

ANOTHER B1G MILESTONE FOR STRINGER
Head coach C. Vivian Stringer became the first Big Ten women's basketball coach to record 200 wins in conference play in the Scarlet Knights' 45-41 win over Northwestern on Dec. 28.

She currently owns a 201-83 record in regular season Big Ten contests, which includes 169 victories while at Iowa from 1983-95 and 32 at Rutgers.

Stringer is the seventh overall basketball coach in Big Ten history to reach the milestone joining:

Bob Knight, Indiana (1972-2000) - 353 
Tom Izzo, Michigan State (1995-present) - 274 
Gene Keady, Purdue (1981-2005) - 265
Ward Lambert, Purdue (1917; 1919-45) - 228 
Lou Henson, Illinois (1976-96) - 214
Branch McCracken, Indiana (1939-43; 1947-65) - 210
C. Vivian Stringer, Iowa (1983-95)/Rutgers (2014-present) - 201

STRINGER MILESTONE NUMBERS TO REMEMBER
Rutgers head coach Stringer has compiled a 1006-405 career record entering her the 48th season of coaching and joined the elite 1,000 career victory club on November 13 in the Scarlet Knight victory over Central Connecticut State.

Stringer is the sixth NCAA women's basketball coach and fifth NCAA Division I women's basketball coach to reach the milestone victory. 

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

Stringer's 35 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.

The Naismith and Women's Basketball Hall of Fame Coach is the fifth active winningest Division I coach and sixth all-time in career wins in NCAA women's basketball history.

UP NEXT
The Scarlet Knights return to conference action next hosting Penn State on Sunday.

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