Sunday, February 9
College Park, Md.
12:00 PM (ET)
Rutgers University
at
No. 13/12 Maryland
Photo by: Ben Solomon/Rutgers Athletics
Game 23: Women's Hoops at No. 13/12 Maryland
Feb 08 | Women's Basketball
Scarlet Knights get their second crack at a Top 25 opponent in College Park
COLLEGE PARK, Md. (Feb. 8, 2020) - Rutgers women's basketball (17-5, 7-4) takes the short drive to No. 13/12 Maryland (13-8, 3-7) for a Big Ten road game on Sunday, Feb. 9 at 12 noon inside the Xfinity Center.
The Scarlet Knights get their second shot at a ranked opponent this winter, having dropped a home game to then-No. 12 Indiana earlier this season. Rutgers topped then-No. 4 ranked Maryland in the Xfinity Center last season on New Year's Eve, part of a 10-game winning streak that vaulted RU into the Top 25.
B1G TIME: C. Vivian Stringer, the all-time winningest coach in Big Ten play with 219 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.
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 winning regular season and 16th in the last 17 years under Hall of Fame head coach C. Vivian Stringer.
MOMENTUM TO THE DMV: The Scarlet Knights are coming off a convincing 72-39 dismantling of Penn State, their 10th win in the last 11 against the Nittany Lions, in which RU established a Big Ten program best plus-23 rebounding margin. The 39 points allowed was the second lowest mark for RU since joining the league in '14-15.
AG1K: Redshirt junior guard Arella Guirantes is the second leading scorer in the Big Ten at 19.6 points per game (19th nationally). Guirantes became the 38th player in Rutgers history to score her 1,000th career point in a Scarlet Knight uniform. She scored 288 at Texas Tech as a freshman, 386 as a redshirt sophomore at Rutgers, and 412 this season "On the Banks." She has been honored in six Big Ten weekly awards this year, twice as the Big Ten Player of the Week and four times on the weekly honor roll.
PLAYING B1G: Rutgers has owned the paint this season, outscoring opponents by an average of 15.5 points per game down low. The Scarlet Knights are 17-3 this season when outscoring opponents in the paint. RU has outrebounded 12 of its last 16 opponents and ranks third in the B1G in average rebounding margin at +4.9.
RESUME BUILDING: Rutgers has received votes in 11 of 13 AP Top 25 Polls this season. RU is currently listed No. 47 in the RPI rankings with victories over No. 34 Purdue and No. 48 Virginia, with losses to No. 15 Indiana, No. 21 LSU, No. 35 Michigan and a double-overtime setback at No. 50 Minnesota.
D-FENCE: The Scarlet Knights' 17 wins have been fueled by stifling defense. RU ranks No. 6 in the nation in field goal percentage defense at .335 and No. 9 in the nation in scoring defense at 54.2 points allowed per game. RU, who leads the Big Ten in points allowed and field goal percentage defense, has held 21 of 22 opponents under their scoring averages, while doing the same in 51 of its last 54 dating back to last season.
NEW-LOOK KNIGHTS: Rutgers women's basketball entered the 2019-20 season without four of the top five leaders in games started from last winter, returning 45% of its points and 35% rebounds. The eight returning Scarlet Knights (seven letterwinners) make up 29 percent of last year's games started. The projected starting lineup with last year's number of starts in parantheses: Khadaizha Sanders (0 – injury), Arella Guirantes (21), Tekia Mack (2), Zipporah Broughton (3) and Jordan Wallace (0).
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's +23 rebounding (42-19) margin was the program's highest in a Big Ten 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.
• RU played its first double-overtime game since Dec. 5, 2016. Rutgers fell to 6-5 in double-OT games all-time.
• After averaging 12.6 minutes and 3.1 points per game over her first 16 contests, Zipporah Broughton has averaged 30.8 minutes over the past four games and averaged 7.5 points per contest over that span.
• 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.
• Rutgers has swiped double-digit steals in six of the last eight games and are 10-2 this season in games with 10 or more steals.
• KK Sanders is 9 assists away from becoming the 10th player in RU history with 400.
• At least two players have scored in double-figures in 21 of 22 games.
• RU is 15-2 when three or more score in double-digits.
• Rutgers is 17-3 when scoring more points in the paint and more points off turnovers.
• The Scarlet Knights have held 51 of its last 54 opponents under their scoring average. Since the beginning of 2017-18, RU has held 80 of its last 86 opponents under their scoring average.
Rutgers, as a team or individually, is ranked in the Top 25 in the nation in five statistical categories through games played on Feb. 7, including a pair of Top 10 marks in key defensive figures..
• Team: FG% defense (6th - .335)
• Team: Scoring defense (9th - 54.2)
• Arella Guirantes: Points/gm (19th - 19.6)
• Arella Guirantes: FT attempts (21st - 138)
• Arella Guirantes: FT made (22nd - 105)
Rutgers continues a stretch of playing three out of four on the road at Michigan State on Thursday, Feb. 13 at 7 p.m. The Spartans defeated the Scarlet Knights, 66-55, at the RAC on Jan. 20.
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The Scarlet Knights get their second shot at a ranked opponent this winter, having dropped a home game to then-No. 12 Indiana earlier this season. Rutgers topped then-No. 4 ranked Maryland in the Xfinity Center last season on New Year's Eve, part of a 10-game winning streak that vaulted RU into the Top 25.
| ON THE AIR |
- Watch on BTN (Play-by-Play: Lisa Byington, Color Commentary: Christy Winters Scott
- Listen on WCTC 1450 AM (Play-by-Play: Ralph Bednarczyk, Color Commentary: Mark Peterson)
- Listen on WRSU 88.7 FM (Play-by-play: Randy Degregorio and Chris Tsakonas)
| THE SCOUT |
- The Terrapins (19-4, 10-2) come into the weekend with a No. 3 RPI ranking with six games remaining until the Big Ten Tournament.
- Maryland is riding an eight-game winning streak that includes four ranked wins (No. 24 Michigan, No. 17 Indiana, No. 22 Northwestern and another against No. 18 Indiana).
- The Terps own the No. 7 nationally ranked scoring offense with 81.6 points per contest. On the other end of the court, Maryland is ranked No. 3 in the country with 12.7 steals per game.
- Maryland leads the Big Ten in rebounding (41.4 per game) and turnover margin (+7.1 per game).
- Kaila Charles currently has 1,870 career points and 878 career rebounds. She is one of just six Terrapins to be in the top 10 in the Maryland record books in scoring and rebounds. She's at 14.9 points and 7.8 rebounds per game this season.
- Ashley Owusu (11.4 ppg), Shakira Austin (11.3 ppg) and Taylor Mikesell (11.0 ppg) join Charles in double-digit scoring averages.
| HEAD-TO-HEAD |
| KNIGHT NOTES |
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 winning regular season and 16th in the last 17 years under Hall of Fame head coach C. Vivian Stringer.
MOMENTUM TO THE DMV: The Scarlet Knights are coming off a convincing 72-39 dismantling of Penn State, their 10th win in the last 11 against the Nittany Lions, in which RU established a Big Ten program best plus-23 rebounding margin. The 39 points allowed was the second lowest mark for RU since joining the league in '14-15.
AG1K: Redshirt junior guard Arella Guirantes is the second leading scorer in the Big Ten at 19.6 points per game (19th nationally). Guirantes became the 38th player in Rutgers history to score her 1,000th career point in a Scarlet Knight uniform. She scored 288 at Texas Tech as a freshman, 386 as a redshirt sophomore at Rutgers, and 412 this season "On the Banks." She has been honored in six Big Ten weekly awards this year, twice as the Big Ten Player of the Week and four times on the weekly honor roll.
PLAYING B1G: Rutgers has owned the paint this season, outscoring opponents by an average of 15.5 points per game down low. The Scarlet Knights are 17-3 this season when outscoring opponents in the paint. RU has outrebounded 12 of its last 16 opponents and ranks third in the B1G in average rebounding margin at +4.9.
RESUME BUILDING: Rutgers has received votes in 11 of 13 AP Top 25 Polls this season. RU is currently listed No. 47 in the RPI rankings with victories over No. 34 Purdue and No. 48 Virginia, with losses to No. 15 Indiana, No. 21 LSU, No. 35 Michigan and a double-overtime setback at No. 50 Minnesota.
D-FENCE: The Scarlet Knights' 17 wins have been fueled by stifling defense. RU ranks No. 6 in the nation in field goal percentage defense at .335 and No. 9 in the nation in scoring defense at 54.2 points allowed per game. RU, who leads the Big Ten in points allowed and field goal percentage defense, has held 21 of 22 opponents under their scoring averages, while doing the same in 51 of its last 54 dating back to last season.
NEW-LOOK KNIGHTS: Rutgers women's basketball entered the 2019-20 season without four of the top five leaders in games started from last winter, returning 45% of its points and 35% rebounds. The eight returning Scarlet Knights (seven letterwinners) make up 29 percent of last year's games started. The projected starting lineup with last year's number of starts in parantheses: Khadaizha Sanders (0 – injury), Arella Guirantes (21), Tekia Mack (2), Zipporah Broughton (3) and Jordan Wallace (0).
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 |
• 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.
• RU played its first double-overtime game since Dec. 5, 2016. Rutgers fell to 6-5 in double-OT games all-time.
• After averaging 12.6 minutes and 3.1 points per game over her first 16 contests, Zipporah Broughton has averaged 30.8 minutes over the past four games and averaged 7.5 points per contest over that span.
• 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.
• Rutgers has swiped double-digit steals in six of the last eight games and are 10-2 this season in games with 10 or more steals.
• KK Sanders is 9 assists away from becoming the 10th player in RU history with 400.
• At least two players have scored in double-figures in 21 of 22 games.
• RU is 15-2 when three or more score in double-digits.
• Rutgers is 17-3 when scoring more points in the paint and more points off turnovers.
• The Scarlet Knights have held 51 of its last 54 opponents under their scoring average. Since the beginning of 2017-18, RU has held 80 of its last 86 opponents under their scoring average.
| NATIONAL RANKS |
• Team: FG% defense (6th - .335)
• Team: Scoring defense (9th - 54.2)
• Arella Guirantes: Points/gm (19th - 19.6)
• Arella Guirantes: FT attempts (21st - 138)
• Arella Guirantes: FT made (22nd - 105)
| UP NEXT |
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