PISCATAWAY, N.J. (Dec. 8, 2019) – Junior forward
Mael Gilles scored a career-high 17 points, including 13 in the second half, to push Rutgers women's basketball (8-1) past Towson (3-6) by a score of 67-53 on Sunday afternoon at the RAC.
Rutgers matches its best start to a season since 2014-15, when it won 23 games and danced to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Scarlet Knights scored 21 second-chance points, a season high, via 18 offensive rebounds. Overall, Rutgers enjoyed a plus-17 rebounding margin (48-31) against the Tigers, the 2019 Colonial Athletic Conference Tournament champions and NCAA Tournament participant.
"It was an ugly win," said head coach
C. Vivian Stringer. "It was not consistent with how we've played this year. We give credit to Towson, that's a good team, but we didn't play Rutgers Basketball. Mael came through, hit a lot of shots and grabbed some important rebounds. We came through, and that's what this team is about."
- Gilles scored 11 of her career-high 17 in the third quarter as Rutgers outscored Towson 22-14 in the frame to take control of the game.
- Redshirt-junior guard Arella Guirantes netted 17 with most of her damage at the charity stripe. Guirantes hit new career highs with 11 made free throws in a career-high 14 attempts. She added eight boards and a career-high matching five assists.
- Senior center Jordan Wallace grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds, including six on the offensive glass to establish Rutgers' 21 second-chance points in the victory.
- Graduate student guard Khadaizha Sanders scored seven of her 10 points in the opening quarter to pace a 13-6 lead.
Towson showed flashes of its 2019 CAA Tournament Championship run in the third quarter by scoring a lightning-fast six points to tie the game and take its first lead since early in the first quarter at 36-34. Gilles was at the heart of Rutgers' resounding response to adversity, triggering a 13-2 run with high-energy play at both ends of the court. RU made 7-of-8 field goals to take back the lead and extend it into double-digits heading into the final quarter.
- Sanders sparked the opening quarter 13-2 run from everywhere on the court. KK drained a midrange jumper, a three-ball and a slashing layup for seven quick points and a 15-6 early Rutgers advantage.
- Towson's 5-0 spurt in the second quarter was the largest scoring run of the period as both sides traded buckets and defensive stops. Sophomore Zipporah Broughton nailed a pullup jumper and Gilles hit a turnaround in the paint near the end of the half to secure a slim lead at the break.
- Towson scored six points in 40 seconds to tie the game at 34-34. Gilles and Sanders kickstarted the offense with a bucket apiece. RU later made 7-of-8 field goals and used a 7-0 run over the span of a minute-plus to take a 54-40 lead into the final quarter.
- Guirantes attacked the rim in the fourth and made 5-of-7 from the line to help Rutgers maintain a double-digit lead throughout the final period.
- At 8-1, Rutgers matches its best start to a season since 2014-15, which ended with 23 victories and a trip to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament.
- The Scarlet Knights improve to 8-0 this season when outscoring an opponent in paint points (24-18) and points off turnovers (18-15).
- RU has held all nine opponents under 37 percent shooting this season. Towson shot .339 on Sunday as Rutgers continues to rank in the Top 5 nationally in field goal percentage defense.
- Rutgers moves to 4-0 all-time against Towson in their first meeting since 1992.
- RU held Towson to 15.5 points under its scoring average. Rutgers has accomplished that feat in 8-of-9 games this season and in 38-of-40 dating back to the start of last season.
- Guirantes has scored in double-figures in all nine games and increases her career double-figure scoring to 43.
- The Scarlet Knights remain perfect at home this season at 5-0 and stretch its home non-conference record to 19-0 over the past three seasons. Overall, Rutgers is 50-5 at the RAC in its last 55.
- The starting lineup of Gilles, Wallace, Sanders, Guirantes and Mack have started all nine games together. Rutgers returned just 29 percent of its starting experience from one season ago.
The Scarlet Knights continue their four-game homestand leading up to Christmas against Southern on Thursday, Dec. 12 at 7 p.m. at the RAC.
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