PISCATAWAY, N.J. (Dec. 5, 2019) – Four Scarlet Knights scored in double-figures to propel Rutgers women's basketball (7-1) to a 73-63 victory over Virginia (4-5) on Thursday night at the RAC in the 13^th annual Big Ten/ACC Challenge.
 
The win was Rutgers' third straight, all against Power 5 programs. The victory also helped the Big Ten defeat the ACC for the first time in 13 years of the cross-conference challenge. With the B1G triumph, the ACC now leads all-time 9-1-3.
 
"We're very happy," said head coach C. Vivian Stringer. "It was a hard-fought game. All credit to Virginia, which is a tough team, and we're very proud of our players for stepping up to that challenge. It was a team effort and a testament to our four players scoring in double figures."
 
The Scarlet Knights, led by double-digit scorer Arella Guirantes (20), Tekia Mack (15), Khadaizha Sanders (14) and Jordan Wallace (13), shot 49 percent from the field while holding its eighth straight opponent under 40 percent shooting with the Cavaliers' .370 mark from the floor. Rutgers never trailed in the contest, which also saw the Scarlet Knights with a slight rebounding edge, 33-32, and as much as a 14-point lead at the end of the first quarter.

STAT SHEET

• Guirantes notched her third 20-point game of the season on 5-of-12 shooting and an aggressive mindset that sent her to the line 13 times for nine makes. The redshirt junior guard added six boards and four assists in the victory.
• Mack, a junior wing, produced her third double-double of the year with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
• Sanders passed out a game-high five dimes to go with her 14 points, accumulated from a 4-of-7 grade from the floor and 5-of-6 from the charity stripe.
• Wallace finished a point shy of her career high on highly efficient shooting (6-of-7) to go with seven rebounds and a block for the senior center.
• Rutgers shot 77 percent from the line on Thursday and scored all its final 10 points from the charity stripe.

TURNING POINT

Rutgers used an 11-0 run over the span of three minutes in the first quarter to take a 15-2 lead, an advantage it would not surrender for the rest of the evening. Wallace's post moves racked up four points, while Mack finished a three-point play to cap the 11-point rally that put Virginia in an insurmountable hole.

How are you actually supposed to defend this?

💪MACK 💪 pic.twitter.com/c7ZUC6gC6J

— Rutgers W.Basketball (@RutgersWBB) December 5, 2019

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Rutgers forced eight turnovers and took a quick double-digit lead by the midway point in the opening quarter. Wallace scored six points and grabbed three rebounds in the first, while Sanders knocked down six points on the way to a 21-9 lead after one.
• Both teams heated up at the end of the second, combining for seven straight made field goals to go into the break. The Cavaliers, however, used an 8-3 run to cut the halftime deficit to six points at 37-31.
• The two sides traded runs in the third. Rutgers' 7-2 spurt was countered by a 7-0 stint by the Hoos. Guirantes slashed into the lane to stop Virginia's run with under a minute to play in the period, and Mack made two foul shots for a five-point lead heading to the final quarter at 53-48.
• Another Rutgers run midway through the fourth cemented a nine-point lead at 64-55 following a Guirantes driving layup. The Cavaliers were stuck in a field goal drought of 4:04 with a 0-of-5 mark from the field with 1:08 left, extinguishing any chance at a comeback.

The Scarlet Knights took care of business tonight in a B1G win over the Cavaliers.@RutgersWBB pic.twitter.com/UEETaW1KpC

— Rutgers On BTN (@RutgersOnBTN) December 6, 2019

 

KNIGHT NOTES

• The Scarlet Knights improved to 7-0 this season when outscoring opponents in points in the paint (26-20) and points off turnovers (17-14).
• Rutgers continues its best start to a season since 2014-15, when it started 8-1.
• Rutgers moves to 2-4 in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, while Virginia falls to 5-8 with seven straight losses.
• Rutgers, who leads the nation in field goal percentage defense, held its eighth straight opponent under 40 percent from the floor. Virginia's .370 mark is the highest for a Rutgers opponent this season, and it came in a 10-point loss.
• Rutgers' 21 first quarter points was the third highest in an opening period this season.
• Guirantes continues to lead the Big Ten in scoring at 19.4 points per game following her third 20-point effort of the season  and seventh of her career.
• Double-digit scoring in their careers: Guirantes 42, Mack 13, Sanders 18 and Wallace 4.
• Rutgers pulls a game closer to Virginia in the all-time series dating back to 1983, as the Cavaliers now lead 7-6. Rutgers has won two straight in the series following a win in Piscataway in 2017.
• The starting lineup of Mael Gilles, Wallace, Sanders, Guirantes and Mack have started all eight games together. Rutgers returned just 29 percent of its starting experience from one season ago.
• Entering play on Thursday, only 37 players in the nation had three or more double-doubles. Mack got her third against Virginia, and the third of her career.

UP NEXT

The Scarlet Knights continue a four-game homestand on Sunday, Dec. 8 against Towson at 2 p.m. at the RAC.
 

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