UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. (Jan. 16, 2020) – Rutgers women's basketball (15-2, 5-1) endured a fourth-quarter surge by Penn State (7-10, 1-5) to win its fourth straight Big Ten game, 62-57, on the road on Thursday evening.
Three Scarlet Knights netted double-digit points, as the Scarlet Knights improved to 13-0 this season when accomplishing that feat. Rutgers scored 34 of its 62 points in the paint and outrebounded the hosts, 38-33.
In the final 30 seconds, Rutgers sealed the game at the free throw line after
Arella Guirantes gave the Scarlet Knights a 57-54 lead on a driving layup in traffic. Guirantes and
Noga Peleg Pelc then went a combined 4-for-4 from the free throw line in pressure situations down the stretch to secure the victory.
- Jordan Wallace scored all 12 of her team-high points in the third quarter. She finished 6-of-9 from the floor and one rebound shy of a double-double with nine boards.
- Khadaizha Sanders netted her 11 points in the first half, helping Rutgers to a 29-23 lead at the break. The grad student guard seven assists.
- Arella Guirantes added 10 points, four rebounds, two assists, two blocks and two steals.
- Tyia Singleton tied a career-high with eight points on 3-of-4 shooting and a 2-of-2 mark from the line.
- Noga Peleg Pelc made her return with eight points on two 3-pointers and two clutch free throws with a two-point lead and four second left on the clock.
Following Rutgers' 11-point lead in the first half, Penn State's run back into the game could have started much earlier if it weren't for
Jordan Wallace's standout third period. The senior scored 12 straight Rutgers points over the span of four-plus minutes to get the lead back to double-digits, which proved valuable during the Nittany Lions' 19-point fourth quarter.
- Rutgers recovered from a 1-of-9 start from the field with a 10-0 run, all the while holding Penn State scoreless for more than five minutes to take an early lead, 12-6.
- Noga Peleg Pelc stamped an 8-0 run midway through the second quarter with three-pointers on back-to-back RU possessions for the 24-13 advantage. Neither team scored for three and a half minutes before Sanders completed a three-point play to push the lead to nine at 27-18. Penn State went to the break down 29-23 thanks to a circus shot three-pointer at the halftime buzzer.
- The Nittany Lions crept back in with a 6-0 spurt, which was halted by Jordan Wallace's turnaround kiss off the glass. Wallace scored 12 straight Rutgers points from 5:07 to 0:46 to push Rutgers' lead back to double-digits at 47-36, expanded by Arella Guirantes' fast break lay-in off a rebound.
- Penn State made 5-of-7 from the floor and used a 12-4 run to cut a once 11-point deficit to one, trailing 53-52 with 2:07 to play. Mael Gilles nailed a baseline midrange jumper with 59 seconds left and Guirantes' drive to the hoop put RU ahead 57-54 with just 24 ticks to play.
- With Penn State resorting to putting Rutgers on the line, Guirantes was fouled with four seconds left and had to exit the game. Peleg Pelc subbed in to take her shots and knocked down both with ice in her veins, ironically putting the game on ice, 61-57.
- Rutgers has won nine of the last 10 against Penn State, moving to 27-18 since 1977 and 8-1 as Big Ten opponents.
- The 15-2 opening to the season marks the best start to a campaign since the 1990-91 squad began 16-1 on the way to the NCAA Tournament.
- Outscoring Penn State 34-28 in points in the paint, Rutgers moves to 15-1 when outscoring opponents in the paint and have outscored the opposition by an average of 15.2 points in the stripe this season.
- Guirantes is 21 points away from reaching the 1,000 career point milestone.
- Ranking No. 3 in the nation in field goal percentage defense, Rutgers held Penn State to .373 from the floor overall and .289 through three quarters.
- Holding PSU 13 points under its season average of 70.6, Rutgers has held 16 of 17 opponents this year under their scoring median, and in 46 of 49 dating back to last season.
- RU has had at least two double-digit scorers in all 17 games and now improve to 13-0 with three or more.
- The Scarlet Knights held the Big Ten's second-leading scorer Kamaria McDaniel (19.6 points per game) to 11 points on 5-of-14 shooting.
- Sophomore guard Noga Peleg Pelc made her first appearance since Dec. 8 against Towson. Peleg Pelc took a leave from the team for personal obligations in Israel, returning to the squad before the Illinois game on Jan. 9.
- RU rolled out the starting five of Guirantes, Mack, Sanders, Wallace and Gilles for the 16th time in 17 games. Rutgers returned just 29 percent of its games started experience from last season's NCAA Tournament run.
The Scarlet Knights host Michigan State on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day – Monday, Jan. 20 – at 6 p.m. at the RAC, airing live on Big Ten Network.
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