Women’s Hoops Runs Past Southern for Best Start Since ‘11

Thursday, December 12

Piscataway, N.J.

7:00 PM (ET)

Rutgers University

9-1,0-0Big Ten

Southern

2-5,0-0SWAC

Team	1	2	3	4	F
Southern U.	14	15	9	20	58
Rutgers	18	22	25	13	78

Women’s Hoops Runs Past Southern for Best Start Since ‘11

Dec 12 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Scarlet Knights are 9-1 with one non-conference game remaining

PISCATAWAY, N.J. (Dec. 12, 2019) – Rutgers women's basketball (9-1) never trailed in a 78-58 victory over Southern (2-5) on Thursday night at the RAC to signal the Scarlet Knights' best start to a season since 2011.

RU shot 54 percent from the floor and scored 31 points by forcing 22 Jaguar turnovers. A 15-0 scoring run in the 25-point third quarter put the game out of reach for the Jags, who were out-rebounded by Rutgers, 33-22.

"This team knows how to win, there's no question about that," said head coach C. Vivian Stringer, who improves to 20-0 in non-conference games at home over the past three seasons. "That winning mentality is going to be important in the Big Ten and we were happy so many players contributed to this win and this start to the season. But honestly, we weren't thrilled about the way we played tonight. There are still things we need to clean up defensively, and we still have some time to figure that out."

STAT SHEET

Arella Guirantes led all scorers with 19 points while making 6-of-6 from the line and adding five assists, two steals and three blocks to a stuffed stat line.
Tekia Mack did it all with 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting and 2-of-2 from three-point range, seven boards, four assists, two steals and a block. Mack produced a +/- of plus-30, which was 10 points more than anyone else on the hardwood.
Jordan Wallace netted 13 on highly efficient 6-of-8 shooting with seven rebounds.
Mael Gilles swished a career-high three 3-pointers for her nine points.
Graduate student guard Khadaizha Sanders passed out eight assists without committing a turnover in 26 minutes.
Freshman center Maori Davenport netted an early career high of nine points on 3-of-5 shooting and a perfect 4-of-4 mark from the line. Davenport added a steal and a block to the defensive effort and three offensive rebounds.

The Scarlet Knights get the 20 point victory with 3 players scoring in double digits.@RutgersWBB is off to their best start since 2011. pic.twitter.com/iYxPpsE34P
— Rutgers On BTN (@RutgersOnBTN) December 13, 2019

TURNING POINT

Southern kept it close over the first 15 minutes of the game, evidenced by an eventual season-high .449 mark from the floor. The Scarlet Knights used a 9-0 run powered by Mack – who netted 10 in the second quarter – and turned up the defense to keep the Jags scoreless for more than three minutes. The Scarlet Knights never trailed by less than double-digits for the remainder.

#RHoops has enrolled in Ball Movement 101. pic.twitter.com/oql7x2XQ2N
— Rutgers W.Basketball (@RutgersWBB) December 13, 2019

HOW IT HAPPENED

Gilles showed her range and made 2-of-3 from beyond the arc to push Rutgers to an early 10-5 lead. Sanders passed around three assists and Wallace finished the quarter with eight points as RU maintained a four-point lead at 18-14.
RU made 5-of-6 from the field and forced four Jags turnovers during a four-minute span to help Rutgers start to pull away in the second quarter. Mack bookended a 9-0 run and Southern went scoreless for 3:13 before a Jags triple cut their deficit to 35-28 with two minutes to play in the quarter. Mack netted her eighth, ninth and 10th points of the period from three-point land to set the 40-29 halftime advantage.
Davenport provided a spark off the bench with a personal 5-0 run over 48 seconds, including a three-point play and a putback following an offensive board. Guirantes' three-pointer, her 2-of-2 from the line, another Gilles three and Davenport's lay-in stretched the scoring spurt to 15-0 and a commanding 64-35 lead.
Graduate student guard Danielle Migliore knocked down the 117^th three-pointer of her career midway through the fourth quarter as Rutgers maintained its comfortable lead. Meanwhile, Davenport eclipsed her young career-high with a pair of free throws with 1:43 remaining to set the lead at 25 points.

KNIGHT NOTES

At 9-1, Rutgers women's basketball is off to its best start to a season since 2011-12, a 22-win season that ended in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Scarlet Knights move to 9-0 this season when outscoring opponents in paint points (32-12) and points off turnovers (31-12).
Rutgers is 7-0 this season when three or more players score in double-figures.
RU held Southern one point under its 2019-20 scoring average. Rutgers has accomplished that feat in 9-of-10 games this season and in 39 of its last 42.
Guirantes, who has scored in double-figures in all 10 games and for the 44^th time in her career, ranks second in the Big Ten in scoring with 19.1 points per game.
Mack scores in double-digits for the ninth time this year and 14^th time overall, while Wallace reaches double-figures for the fourth time during her senior season.
Rutgers made seven 3-pointers, its most since making 11 against Niagara on Nov. 13.
The Scarlet Knights remain perfect at home this season at 6-0 and stretch its home non-conference record to 20-0 over the past three seasons. Overall, Rutgers is 51-5 at the RAC in its last 56.
The starting lineup of Gilles, Wallace, Sanders, Guirantes and Mack have started all 10 games together. Rutgers returned just 29 percent of its starting experience from one season ago.
Seven years after their only meeting, Rutgers moves to 2-0 all-time against Southern.

#RHoops has enrolled in Ball Movement 101. pic.twitter.com/oql7x2XQ2N
— Rutgers W.Basketball (@RutgersWBB) December 13, 2019

UP NEXT

Rutgers wraps up non-conference play and a four-game home stand leading up to Christmas on Sunday, Dec. 15 against Marshall at 2 p.m. at the RAC.

Follow Rutgers women's basketball on Twitter and Instagram (@RutgersWBB) for all of the latest news and updates. The team is also on Facebook (www.facebook.com/RutgersWBB). For all Rutgers Athletics news follow us on Twitter(@RUAthletics), Instagram (@RUAthletics), Snapchat (@RUAthletics) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/RutgersAthletics). For additional updates, please download the Gameday App.
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