Sunday, March 1
Piscataway, N.J.
12:00 PM (ET)
Rutgers University
vs
No. 18/20 Iowa
Photo by: Ben Solomon
Game 29: Women's Hoops vs. No. 18/20 Iowa
Feb 29 | Women's Basketball
Scarlet Knights host regular season finale at the RAC, where they are 13-2 this season and 39-7 over the past three years.
PISCATAWAY, N.J. (Feb. 29, 2020) - Rutgers women's basketball (20-8, 10-7) hosts the 2019-20 regular season finale on Sunday, March 1 at 12 p.m. against No. 18/20 Iowa (23-5, 14-3) at the RAC and live on Big Ten Network.
The Scarlet Knights are 13-2 at home this season and 39-7 over the last three seasons at the RAC. The home-court advantage helped fuel a 15-2 start to the year, Rutgers' best opening to a season since the 1990-91 squad began 16-1 on their way to the NCAA Tournament.
Rutgers, who has clinched a first round bye in next week's Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis, is playing for important seeding in the championship bracket. The Scarlet Knights can finish as high as fifth place. The No. 5 and 6 seeds play a team in the second round on Thursday that played the day before in the first round.
Head coach C. Vivian Stringer coached at Iowa from 1983-1995. She collected career win No. 1000 on Nov. 13, 2018. Stringer registered 269 of those wins as Iowa's head coach. Of her Big Ten record 222 conference victories, she recorded 169 as a Hawkeye head coach.
STATE OF SUCCESS: Boosted by a 15-2 start to the season - Rutgers' best to open a campaign since the 1990-91 squad started 16-1 - the Scarlet Knights have clinched their third straight 20-win season and the 37th in the career of Hall of Fame head coach C. Vivian Stringer, which breaks a tie with Pat Summitt for most all-time.
B1G TIME: C. Vivian Stringer, the all-time winningest coach in Big Ten play with 222 victories, leads the Scarlet Knights through the conference slate one year after RU's most successful season in the league since joining in '14-15. Rutgers' 13 regular season Big Ten wins, the No. 3 B1G Tournament seed and the tourney semis finish in '18-19 were all program bests.
OK, KK!: Senior point guard Khadaizha "KK" Sanders surpassed the 400-career assist mark with six at Northwestern, becoming the 10th player in Rutgers women's basketball history to reach the milestone.
NO ANSWER FOR AG: Redshirt junior guard Arella Guirantes is the Big Ten's leading scorer at 20.1 points per game (13th nationally). Guirantes scored a career-high 36 points against Ohio State, including the game-winning jumper with less than four seconds to play in the 59-57 victory last Saturday. The 36 points were the second most scored in the Big Ten this season (most in a conference game) and were the most by an RU player since RU Hall of Famer Cappie Pondexter netted 40 in January of 2006.
CHASING HISTORY: Guirantes is seeking to become the first RU player since Cappie Pondexter in '06 to average 20 points per game for a season. She would be the first player in program history to average 20+ points, 6+ rebounds and 3+ assists per game. She set a school record on Thursday with 14 makes without a miss from the free throw line.
TRAPEZOID OF TERROR: Since the 2002-03 season, the Scarlet Knights have gone 218-50 (.811) at the RAC. RU is 39-7 (.848) over the last three seasons at home, finished out 2018-19 at 13-2 and started this season 13-2.
PLAYING B1G: Rutgers has owned the paint this season, outscoring opponents by an average of 12.0 points per game down low. The Scarlet Knights are 18-5 this season when outscoring opponents in the paint. RU has outrebounded 15 of its last 22 opponents and ranks fourth in the B1G in average rebounding margin at +4.1.
RESUME BUILDING: Rutgers has received votes in 12 AP Top 25 Polls this season. RU is currently listed No. 45 in the RPI rankings with victories over No. 24 Ohio State, No. 34 Michigan, No. 41 Purdue and No. 51 Virginia, with losses to No. 7 Northwestern, No. 16 Indiana, No. 34 Michigan and No. 33 LSU.
D-FENCE: The Scarlet Knights' 20 wins have been fueled by stifling defense. RU ranks No. 14 in the nation in field goal percentage defense at .347 and No. 17 in the nation in scoring defense at 55.4 points allowed per game. RU leads the Big Ten in points allowed and field goal percentage defense, and has held 26 of 28 opponents under their scoring averages, while doing the same in 56 of its last 60 dating back to last season.
FUTURE IS BRIGHT: C. Vivian Stringer and her staff have secured the No. 8 nationally ranked recruiting class for 2020 according to ESPN, led by the signing of No. 6 ranked prospect Diamond Johnson out of Neumann Goretti in Philadelphia. Blue Star Basketball ranks the class No. 5 in the nation.
• RU is scoring 66.4 points per game, as it stands the 5th most offensively productive C. Vivian Stringer team "On the Banks" behind four NCAA Tournament teams ('99, '15, '98 & '03).
• Jordan Wallace has scored nine or more points in five of her last seven games. Rutgers is 11-1 this season in games when Wallace scores in double-figures.
• Mael Gilles' 14 points in the Michigan win were a Big Ten career-high for the junior, while her four blocks also established a career best.
• Arella Guirantes has 13 20-or-more point games this season, and 17 for her career.
• RU's +23 rebounding (42-19) margin against Penn State was the program's highest in a B1G game since joining the conference in 2014-15.
• Penn State's 39 points was Rutgers' second lowest allowed since joining the Big Ten. It was the lowest allowed since Illinois' 37 in 2018.
• Illinois' .264 shooting on Jan. 30 was RU's lowest field goal percentage allowed in a Big Ten game since Michigan managed a mark of .262 on 2/8/15.
• At least two players have scored in double-figures in 26 of 28 games.
• RU is 17-3 when three or more score in double-digits.
• Rutgers is 18-5 when scoring more points in the paint and 20-4 with more points off turnovers.
• The Scarlet Knights have held 56 of its last 60 opponents under their scoring average. Since the beginning of 2017-18, RU has held 85 of its last 92 opponents under their scoring average.
Rutgers, as a team or individually, is ranked in the Top 25 in the nation in six statistical categories through games played on Feb. 20, including a pair of Top 20 marks in key defensive figures.
• Arella Guirantes: FT attemtps (9th - 186)
• Arella Guirantes: FG made (10th - 148)
• Arella Guirantes: Points/gm (13th - 20.1)
• Team: FG% defense (17th - .347)
• Team: Scoring defense (17th - 55.4)
• Arella Guirantes: FG attempts (22nd - 439)
Rutgers heads to the 2020 Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Rutgers will have a first round bye and open play on Thursday, March 5 with hopes to survive and advance to the Big Ten Championship Game on Sunday, March 8.
Follow Rutgers women's basketball on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
The Scarlet Knights are 13-2 at home this season and 39-7 over the last three seasons at the RAC. The home-court advantage helped fuel a 15-2 start to the year, Rutgers' best opening to a season since the 1990-91 squad began 16-1 on their way to the NCAA Tournament.
Rutgers, who has clinched a first round bye in next week's Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis, is playing for important seeding in the championship bracket. The Scarlet Knights can finish as high as fifth place. The No. 5 and 6 seeds play a team in the second round on Thursday that played the day before in the first round.
Head coach C. Vivian Stringer coached at Iowa from 1983-1995. She collected career win No. 1000 on Nov. 13, 2018. Stringer registered 269 of those wins as Iowa's head coach. Of her Big Ten record 222 conference victories, she recorded 169 as a Hawkeye head coach.
| ON THE AIR |
- Watch on BTN (Play-by-play: Lisa Byington, Color Analyst: Vera Jones)
- The game can also be streamed on the Fox Sports app. A subscription is required.
- Listen on WCTC 1450 AM (Play-by-play: Ralph Bednarczyk, Color Analyst: Mark Peterson)
- Listen on WRSU 88.7 FM (Play-by-play: Corey Jason and Brant Wolff)
| PROMOTIONS & EVENTS |
- Senior Day | Join us in celebrating our practice player, managers and student-athletes from the Rutgers Class of 2020 on Senior Day. A pregame ceremony will begin at 11:40 a.m.
- Kids Corner
- Staff & Faculty Appreciation
- Student For a Day - Tickets starting at $10 for general seating in the student section.
| THE SCOUT |
- The Hawkeyes (23-5, 14-3) have won three straight after their 34-point loss at No. 10 Maryland on Feb. 13.
- Iowa will bring the Big Ten's top ranked offense (80.1 points per game) into a game with the conference's top defense. The Hawkeyes rank No. 10 in the nation in scoring offense, No. 12 in three-point field goal percentage with a .372 and No. 3 in overall field goal percentage with a .492 mark. They also rank No. 5 in the country in assists per game with 20.3.
- Kathleen Doyle leads Iowa with 18.4 points per game, fourth in the Big Ten, along with 6.3 assists per game for tops in the Big Ten and No. 9 in the nation.
- Sophomore Monika Czinano (16.0), and senior Makenzie Meyer (14.6) join Doyle as leaders for the Hawkeyes in points per game.
| HEAD-TO-HEAD |
| LAST TIME OUT |
| LAST TIME VS. IOWA |
- March 9, 2019: Big Ten Tournament Semifinals | Rutgers' late comeback from a 20-point third quarter deficit in trying to play its way into the Big Ten championship game fell just short at Bankers Life Fieldhouse as No. 10/10 and second-seeded Iowa defeated the third-seeded Scarlet Knights, 72-67, in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals.
- Rutgers trailed 51-31 with 4:51 left in the third quarter before a fourth quarter surge brought the Scarlet Knights to within three on three occasions late in the fourth quarter.
- Redshirt sophomore guard Arella Guirantes led Rutgers with 16 points.
| KNIGHT NOTES |
B1G TIME: C. Vivian Stringer, the all-time winningest coach in Big Ten play with 222 victories, leads the Scarlet Knights through the conference slate one year after RU's most successful season in the league since joining in '14-15. Rutgers' 13 regular season Big Ten wins, the No. 3 B1G Tournament seed and the tourney semis finish in '18-19 were all program bests.
OK, KK!: Senior point guard Khadaizha "KK" Sanders surpassed the 400-career assist mark with six at Northwestern, becoming the 10th player in Rutgers women's basketball history to reach the milestone.
NO ANSWER FOR AG: Redshirt junior guard Arella Guirantes is the Big Ten's leading scorer at 20.1 points per game (13th nationally). Guirantes scored a career-high 36 points against Ohio State, including the game-winning jumper with less than four seconds to play in the 59-57 victory last Saturday. The 36 points were the second most scored in the Big Ten this season (most in a conference game) and were the most by an RU player since RU Hall of Famer Cappie Pondexter netted 40 in January of 2006.
CHASING HISTORY: Guirantes is seeking to become the first RU player since Cappie Pondexter in '06 to average 20 points per game for a season. She would be the first player in program history to average 20+ points, 6+ rebounds and 3+ assists per game. She set a school record on Thursday with 14 makes without a miss from the free throw line.
TRAPEZOID OF TERROR: Since the 2002-03 season, the Scarlet Knights have gone 218-50 (.811) at the RAC. RU is 39-7 (.848) over the last three seasons at home, finished out 2018-19 at 13-2 and started this season 13-2.
PLAYING B1G: Rutgers has owned the paint this season, outscoring opponents by an average of 12.0 points per game down low. The Scarlet Knights are 18-5 this season when outscoring opponents in the paint. RU has outrebounded 15 of its last 22 opponents and ranks fourth in the B1G in average rebounding margin at +4.1.
RESUME BUILDING: Rutgers has received votes in 12 AP Top 25 Polls this season. RU is currently listed No. 45 in the RPI rankings with victories over No. 24 Ohio State, No. 34 Michigan, No. 41 Purdue and No. 51 Virginia, with losses to No. 7 Northwestern, No. 16 Indiana, No. 34 Michigan and No. 33 LSU.
D-FENCE: The Scarlet Knights' 20 wins have been fueled by stifling defense. RU ranks No. 14 in the nation in field goal percentage defense at .347 and No. 17 in the nation in scoring defense at 55.4 points allowed per game. RU leads the Big Ten in points allowed and field goal percentage defense, and has held 26 of 28 opponents under their scoring averages, while doing the same in 56 of its last 60 dating back to last season.
FUTURE IS BRIGHT: C. Vivian Stringer and her staff have secured the No. 8 nationally ranked recruiting class for 2020 according to ESPN, led by the signing of No. 6 ranked prospect Diamond Johnson out of Neumann Goretti in Philadelphia. Blue Star Basketball ranks the class No. 5 in the nation.
| TRENDING |
• Jordan Wallace has scored nine or more points in five of her last seven games. Rutgers is 11-1 this season in games when Wallace scores in double-figures.
• Mael Gilles' 14 points in the Michigan win were a Big Ten career-high for the junior, while her four blocks also established a career best.
• Arella Guirantes has 13 20-or-more point games this season, and 17 for her career.
• RU's +23 rebounding (42-19) margin against Penn State was the program's highest in a B1G game since joining the conference in 2014-15.
• Penn State's 39 points was Rutgers' second lowest allowed since joining the Big Ten. It was the lowest allowed since Illinois' 37 in 2018.
• Illinois' .264 shooting on Jan. 30 was RU's lowest field goal percentage allowed in a Big Ten game since Michigan managed a mark of .262 on 2/8/15.
• At least two players have scored in double-figures in 26 of 28 games.
• RU is 17-3 when three or more score in double-digits.
• Rutgers is 18-5 when scoring more points in the paint and 20-4 with more points off turnovers.
• The Scarlet Knights have held 56 of its last 60 opponents under their scoring average. Since the beginning of 2017-18, RU has held 85 of its last 92 opponents under their scoring average.
| NATIONAL RANKS |
• Arella Guirantes: FT attemtps (9th - 186)
• Arella Guirantes: FG made (10th - 148)
• Arella Guirantes: Points/gm (13th - 20.1)
• Team: FG% defense (17th - .347)
• Team: Scoring defense (17th - 55.4)
• Arella Guirantes: FG attempts (22nd - 439)
| UP NEXT |
Follow Rutgers women's basketball on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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