EAST LANSING, Mich. (Feb. 13, 2020) – Rutgers women's basketball (17-7, 7-6) dropped a back-and-forth battle, 57-53, at Michigan State (12-12, 5-8) on Thursday evening inside the Breslin Center. Michigan State survived a potential game-tying layup with six seconds left, then made 4-of-4 at the free throw line to seal the win.
The Spartans live and die by the three-pointer and survived a 36 percent overall shooting performance by connecting on 9-of-24 from beyond the arc. MSU took 48 percent of its shots from three-point range.
The Scarlet Knights received a career-high 19 points from senior center
Jordan Wallace, and led in rebounding (34-28), points in the paint (36-14) and second-chance points (13-4). The Spartans' final edge came from holding Rutgers' bench scoreless and running to a 17-7 lead in fast break points.
- The highly efficient Wallace got her career-high 19 points on 9-of-14 shooting, falling one board shy of a double-double with a game-high nine rebounds. She also added a block and two steals on defense.
- Arella Guirantes netted 12 points with four boards, two assists and two blocks.
- Mael Gilles added nine points and seven rebounds.
- The Scarlet Knight defense combined on seven blocked shots.
- Tekia Mack pitched in five assists, leading the Scarlet Knights in the category for the third straight game.
The Spartans' big run to erase a 12-point deficit was the first of two crucial scoring rallies. Their 10-0 run came at the most paramount time, handing the home team a four-point lead approaching the final minute of play. The daggers in that run? The Spartans' eighth and ninth three-pointers of the game.
- After Michigan State opened the scoring with a three-pointer, Rutgers scored 10 straight points to force an early Spartan timeout behind Wallace and Gilles leading the charge with four points apiece. The Scarlet Knights turned defense into offense as four steals and four blocks led to a 64 percent mark from the field in the opening quarter and a 21-13 lead heading into the second.
- Wallace's torrid start continued into the second period, reaching her career high of 15 points with 7:29 left in the quarter. That bucket, along with the ensuing Tekia Mack put-back handed RU a double-digit lead before Rutgers cooled off with a 3:19 scoreless stretch heading to the break.
- RU kept MSU scoreless for nearly three minutes in the middle of the third as Mack buried a pair of baskets in the paint to help Rutgers back to a 10-point lead. The Spartans sped back into the game with a 9-0 run in just under two minutes down the stretch of the third, meanwhile holding Rutgers scoreless for nearly five minutes.
- The Spartans erased the 12-point deficit and took the lead on free throws 90 seconds into the fourth quarter. Khadaizha Sanders took it right back with a personal 5-0 run on a triple and a long two. Both sides went cold from the floor, especially MSU missing seven straight shots. Guirantes heated up at the right time with a bucket off Sanders' feed, but Michigan State followed suit with their eighth triple of the night to cut the deficit to three with three minutes left.
- That three-pointer was the beginning of a 10-0 run to put MSU ahead 53-49 with 1:18 remaining. Guirantes made a pair of free throws to cut it to two and the defense got a stop to set up a potential game-tying shot for Sanders, but the ball agonizingly rolled around the rim and back out toward the floor. The Spartans were 4-of-4 from the line in the final four seconds of play as RU fouled. Wallace chipped away with a quick bucket, but the 4-of-4 mark kept the game out of reach.
- MSU takes a 6-5 edge in the all-time series dating back to 2006, and goes ahead 5-3 as Big Ten opponents since 2015.
- Mack led RU is shot creation for the third straight game. Her five assists give her 16 over the past three contests.
- Wallace's previous career-high was 14. She surpassed that mark with seven minutes to go in the second quarter.
- Ranking No. 9 in the nation in field goal percentage defense, the Scarlet Knights boosted their stats by allowing .360 at MSU.
- Rutgers outscored MSU 36-14 in the paint, marking the 22nd time in 24 games RU has outscored foes in the stripe this season. Rutgers has outscored opponents by an average of 13.3 points per game over that run.
- Rutgers outscored MSU 19-16 in points off turnovers, marking the 22nd time in 24 games RU has outscored opponents off miscues.
- Rutgers has had at least two double-digit scorers in 23 of 24 games.
- Holding Michigan State 12 points under its 69.3 season scoring average, Rutgers has held 23 of 24 opponents this season under their scoring medians and in 53 of the last 56 dating back to the start of 2018-19.
- KK Sanders is now six assists away from becoming the 10th player in Rutgers history with 400 career assists.
- With five games remaining in the regular season, Rutgers stands in sixth place in the Big Ten. The top four seeds receive a double bye in the Big Ten Tournament in March, while seeds 5-10 secure a single bye.
The Scarlet Knights return home to play four of its final five games of the regular season at the RAC – starting with Michigan on Sunday, Feb. 16 at noon in the annual Pink Game for cancer awareness presented by RWJBarnabas Health and the Rutgers Cancer Center.
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.
- RU -
