Starting 5: Women's Basketball vs. Vanderbilt

Friday, November 26

St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands

1 PM ET

Rutgers University

Vanderbilt

Nov 26 | Women's Basketball

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The five things to know before the Scarlet Knights face the Commodores at the Paradise Jam on Friday in the U.S. Virgin Islands

SAINT THOMAS, U.S. Virgin Islands - Rutgers women's basketball (4-2) plays its second game at the Paradise Jam in the U.S. Virgin Islands, facing Vanderbilt (3-3) on Friday, Nov. 26 at 1 p.m. ET (2 p.m. local) at the University of the Virgin Islands.

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Watch on ESPN3 or ESPN+ (Play-by-play: Brad Wells; Analyst: Kevin Lehman)
Listen on WRSU 88.7 FM Tuesday (Play-by-play: Chris Tsakonas & Shaun Nadkarni)

The 5 Things to Know

1. THE SCOUT

Vanderbilt is 3-3 and fresh off a heartbreaking, buzzer-beating loss to No. 9 Arizona to open its Paradise Jam slate on Thanksgiving. The nationally ranked Wildcats hit an off-balance layup as time expired for a low-scoring, 48-46 win in St. Thomas.

2. THE HEAD-TO-HEAD

3. CALM AFTER THE STORM

Rutgers finished a five-games-in-10-days stretch with a 4-1 record before departing for the U.S. Virgin Islands for the 2021 Paradise Jam. The opening stint concluded with a heart-stopping win for the Scarlet Knights against Harvard that featured an 18-point comeback, a game-tying three-pointer at the end of regulation, and two blocked shots in the final 30 seconds of overtime. The comeback for the win was the second largest in school history (since overcoming 22 at Providence in 1993) and tied for the fifth largest in Big Ten Conference history.

4. OH MY OSH

Osh Brown, a graduate transfer from Ball State now with 1,538 career points, is the NCAA Division I active career leader in rebounds with 1,179 and in double-doubles with 50. Brown grabbed her first Rutgers double-double in grand fashion in the Paradise Jam opener with a 20-point, 20-rebound performance against DePaul, Rutgers first since Betnijah Laney's in 2014 against UNC. Brown now ranks ninth in the country and tops in the Big Ten with 12.2 rebounds per game.

5. 55 ALIVE & WELL

Rutgers ranked fourth in the NCAA last season in steals per game, and with a new-look roster, continue the trend into 2021-22 with a No. 9 national rank with 71 total steals through Nov. 25. Sayawni Lassiter leads the defense with 3.0 steals per game and ranks 10th in the NCAA in total steals with 18. The 53.3ppg scoring defense is third in the Big Ten as RU looks to lead the conference in that defensive metric for the third consecutive season.

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• Playing in its first overtime game since beating No. 18 Iowa, 78-74, in overtime on March 1, 2020, Rutgers improved to 26-21 all-time in extra time, including wins in three of its last four overtimes.

• Osh Brown's 19 rebounds vs. Harvard were the most for a Scarlet Knight in a game since Betnijah Laney's 24 against UNC on Dec. 5, 2014. It fell three shy of her career high of 22, set in the 2021 NCAA Tournament last season, a Ball State program record.

• Rutgers' highest scoring quarter has been the fourth in all four victories this season – 20 apiece against Saint Peter's and South Alabama, and 15 against Fairfield and Stony Brook, and 25 against Harvard.

• Tyia Singleton, who ranked fourth in the Big Ten in blocks last season, continues the trend into 2021-22 with a No. 2 conference ranking at 1.7 blocks per game.

• Rutgers bench outscored the opponents' total score in the first two victories of the season.

• The Rutgers defense has held opponents under their scoring average in 25 of its last 26 games, and in 111 of its last 120 dating back to 2017-18.

• Sayawni Lassiter grabbed a career-high five steals against Fairfield. She has three or more steals in five Rutgers games this season. Her 18 total steals ranks 10th in the country and ranks second in the Big Ten with 3.0 thefts per game.

• Rutgers' specialty stats show the Scarlet Knights clicking in the paint and off the bench. RU is outscoring opponents by an average of 11.3 points in the paint and by 18.8 in bench points.

• Rutgers passed out 21 assists on its 22 field goals in the St. Peter's victory, setting a school modern era record (since 2001-02) for highest percentage of field goals assistsed (95%).

• Rutgers ranks 7th in the country with 35 total blocks (28th with 5.8 per game).

• In the St. Peter's win, Rutgers forced its most turnovers by an opponent (34) since 38 against Penn State during the 2014-15 season.

• The nation's fourth best steals per game team last season, Rutgers grabbed 21 steals in the 2021-22 season opener, the most since 22 at Wisconsin in Game 2 last season on Dec. 11, 2020.

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