COLLEGE PARK, Md. (Feb. 9, 2020) – Rutgers women's basketball (17-6, 7-5) dropped a Big Ten game at No. 13/12 Maryland (20-4, 11-2) by a score of 79-50 on Sunday afternoon at the Xfinity Center.
The nationally ranked Terrapins won their eighth consecutive game by using a 41-31 rebounding advantage, a 25-4 lead in fast break points and by limiting turnovers with just 12 miscues.
"They played Maryland basketball," said head coach
C. Vivian Stringer. "We had too many turnovers, not enough assists or rebounds. It's tough to win when you don't rebound or move the ball. There wasn't much Maryland didn't do right today."
- Arella Guirantes led Rutgers with 15 points to go with her five boards.
- Tekia Mack added 13 points on 4-of-7 shooting and led the Scarlet Knights with four assists.
- Mael Gilles came off the bench to chip in seven points and five rebounds.
Maryland never trailed on Sunday in large part due to an opening 7-0 run that forced Rutgers to take a timeout just 90 seconds into the game. Maryland's unrelenting attack continued with a 46percent performance from the floor and 85 percent from the free throw line in 27 attempts.
- Maryland sped out of the gates on a 7-0 run, which led to an early double-digit lead for the home team for most of the opening quarter. Rutgers countered with a furious offensive run of six made shots to end the period down 25-17. Guirantes, Broughton and Wallace made their two-pointers, while Sanders sank a triple to get the deficit to single digits.
- Midway through the second, Maryland's defense kept RU off the board for two and a half minutes, allowing a 9-1 Terps rally to push the lead to 17 at 37-20. Both teams combined 0-for-10 from the floor to finish the first half with Maryland ahead 44-26.
- Rutgers plugged away as Broughton's three-point play and Guirantes' three-point field goal kept the offense moving, but Maryland's attack did not relent. The Terps took its largest lead of the game at 66-39 with a minute to play in the third before Mael Gilles ended a 7-0 Maryland stint with a strong left-handed drive to the hoop.
- Mack and Gilles netted buckets in the beginning of the final quarter as the consistent Terps held strong to a 20-plus point lead in a low-scoring fourth.
- Rutgers has had at least two double-digit scorers in 22 of 23 games.
- Holding the Terrapins two points under their 81.6 season scoring average, Rutgers has held 22 of 23 opponents this season under their scoring medians and in 52 of the last 55 dating back to the start of 2018-19.
- Tekia Mack led the Scarlet Knights in assists for the second straight game. She had four at Maryland after posting a career-high seven against Penn State on Thursday.
- Zipporah Broughton earned her second consecutive start and fifth of her career after getting three as a freshman last season.
- KK Sanders is nine assists away from becoming the 10th player in Rutgers history with 400 career assists.
- Maryland leads the all-time series, 26-12, dating back to 1976 – including an 8-1 record in the Big Ten.
- With six games remaining in the regular season, Rutgers remains in fifth 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 head to Michigan State on Thursday, Feb. 13 at 7 p.m. ET looking to avenge a 66-55 loss at home on Jan. 20.
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