BATON ROUGE, La. (Nov. 24, 2019) – Rutgers women's basketball (4-1) dropped its first game of the season in a closely-contested 64-58 setback at LSU (5-1) on Sunday evening at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
 
RU cut a one-time LSU lead of 11 points down to one with 3:20 remaining before the Tigers scored the final five points of the game.
 
The Scarlet Knights outshot the Tigers percentage wise 43 to 33, but LSU rode a 22-13 edge on the offensive glass to a 22-6 advantage in second-chance points. Rutgers committed a season-high 21 turnovers in its first loss of the season.



 

STAT SHEET

• Junior wing Tekia Mack scored 14 of her 16 points in the second half, sparking the comeback attempt.
• Redshirt junior guard Arella Guirantes joined Mack in double-figures with 11, adding five boards and four assists.
• LSU turned the ball over 13 times compared to Rutgers' 21.
• The Tigers won the overall rebounding battle by a single board, but LSU led in offensive boards by a plus-nine margin and established a 22-6 advantage in second-chance points.
• Freshman center Maori Davenport paced Rutgers' rebounding efforts with six, her best mark in her fifth collegiate game.
• Rutgers shot 12-of-14 from the free throw line, its second game at 85 percent or above – both on the road.

TURNING POINT

Rutgers could not overcome a scoring drought that lasted 6:23 of game clock into the second quarter. While LSU was not shooting the lights out either, they did capitalize and methodically built up to a nine-point lead into halftime. The lead held despite a 12-4 by Rutgers in the fourth quarter.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Tigers' first four possessions amounted to two misses and two turnovers, allowing Rutgers to take a 6-0 lead. Rutgers survived a cold spell of its own as Guirantes spun into the paint for a floater, and Noga Peleg Pelc came off the bench to hit her first shot from long range for the 11-8 lead midway through the period.
• Rutgers went 6:23 without a point into the latter half of the second quarter, and the Tigers pounced on the opportunity. At the time of Broughton's bucket to end the drought, LSU was only shooting 22 percent from the field and held a slight 19-16 lead as a result. LSU was the first of the two teams to score in the period at the 5:33 mark. A 9-2 Tiger run set its largest lead at nine (28-19), a margin that held until half.
• Four-of-five Rutgers starters scored a basket through the first five minutes of the third, shooting 5-of-6 overall to cut a nine-point lead to five. The hot streak stretched to 9-of-10 made field goals, but the unrelenting Tiger attack sustained a nine-point advantage heading into the fourth.
• Mack's six points led a 12-4 run spanning 3:39 to get within one point at 59-58. LSU buckled down, held RU scoreless for the remaining 3:20 and added five points for a six-point victory.

KNIGHT NOTES

• Rutgers held LSU two points under its 66.2 early-season scoring average. RU has held all five opponents this season under their scoring average, and 35 of its last 37 dating back to the start of 2018-19.
• Rutgers used the starting lineup of Mael Gilles, Arella Guirantes, Tekia Mack, Khadaizha Sanders and Jordan Wallace in each of its five games this season. Their starts last season: Sanders (0 – missed season with injury), Guirantes (21), Mack (2), Gilles (9) and Wallace (0).
• Guirantes has scored in double-digits in all five games this season, and for the 39^th time in her career; Mack hit double-figures for the fifth time this season, and 10^th overall.

UP NEXT

The Scarlet Knights head out on a Thanksgiving trip to the Bahamas for the Junkanoo Jam at World Resorts Bimini. RU faces Vanderbilt on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, Nov. 28 at 3 p.m. With a win over Vandy, Rutgers will play the winner of Georgia Tech/Seton Hall on Saturday, Nov. 30 at 2 p.m. With a loss, Rutgers will play the loser of that game on Friday, Nov. 29 at 7:45 p.m.
 

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