PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers women's dropped a Valentine's Day matchup with Ohio State, 59-39, on Thursday night at the RAC.

Rutgers fell to an overall mark of 17-7 and a Big Ten record of 9-4. It marked just the second loss for the Scarlet Knights at home. Ohio State improved to 11-12 overall and 7-7 in the league.

Redshirt senior forward Stasha Carey nearly eclipsed a double-double, posting 10 rebounds and nine points to lead RU in the game. Redshirt sophomore Arella Guirantes followed with nine points and nine rebounds.

OSU was paced by Adreana Miller with 14 points followed by Carly Santoro with 12 points and Janai Crooms with 10 points.

FIRST HALF
Rutgers and Ohio State each had a slow start to the contest, as the Buckeyes held a 6-5 edge at the 4:50 mark in the first quarter. From there, OSU found a 17-1 surge to extend its lead to 23-6 at the end of the frame.

The teams would go on to trade baskets throughout the second quarter. The scoring balanced out, 12-12, in the stanza, but the Buckeyes lead remained intact, moving in front 35-18 by halftime.

SECOND HALF
The third quarter would be a low scoring affair for both sides, as RU started it off with an 8-4 run to cut into the deficit, 38-24, by the 5:30 mark. OSU tacked on just four more points in the frame, holding a 42-26 advantage moving into the fourth.

After outscoring the Buckeyes, 8-7, in the third quarter, Rutgers closed in as close as 15 points on two occasions in the final frame. Freshman guard Noga Peleg Pelc drained the Scarlet Knights' first 3-pointer of the game with 6:11. The rookie Scarlet Knights' points saw RU trail 47-32, but the Ohio State lead was too much to overcome.



UP NEXT
Rutgers is back on the road heading to Indiana on Monday for a game on BTN. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. ET.

KNIGHT NOTES

• Rutgers has kept all 24 opponent to-date under its scoring average. Ohio State entered Thursday's contest averaging 61.5 points per game and scored 59.
• Stasha Carey was one point shy of recording her third double-double of the season finishing with nine points and 10 rebounds. It marked her fourth double-digit rebounding game of the year and 26th of her career.
• Arella Guirantes was also shy of recording her first double-double of the year with nine points and nine rebounds. Her nine rebounds ties a season-high having also hauled in nine boards against Penn State on Jan. 6.

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