ST. THOMAS, U.S. Virgin Islands – Rutgers women's basketball (4-3) dropped a 51-40 final score to Vanderbilt (4-3) in its second game at the Paradise Jam on Friday afternoon at the University of the Virgin Islands.
 
The Scarlet Knights produced 18 points in the fourth quarter, the sixth time in seven games Rutgers' highest scoring period was in the final frame, but that could not overcome an eight-point performance in the first half.
 
Jailyn Mason led the Scarlet Knights with nine points, all scored in the second half, to bring her career total to 983. Sophomore center Chyna Cornwell netted a career-high six points, and Osh Brown paced RU on the glass with six rebounds. Shug Dickson led with four assists and three steals.
 
Rutgers outrebounded an opponent for the seventh consecutive game to start the season (33-31), but a .318 mark from the floor and 4-of-26 from three-point range with 26 turnovers provided the opening for the Commodores.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Rutgers attack was slow to start with a 2-of-7 mark from the field and Vanderbilt took a 14-5 lead after one.
• An 11-0 run coupled with a Rutgers eight-minute scoring drought handed the Commodores a 26-7 lead one minute ahead of halftime.
• RU rebounded with 14 points in the third quarter to kickstart the offense, with Victoria Morris scoring four straight points, but the Commodores kept pace with 14 of their own to maintain a 20-point lead at 42-22.
• For the sixth time in seven games, Rutgers made the fourth quarter its highest scoring period with 18 against Vanderbilt. Jailyn Mason, Shug Dickson, and Joiya Maddox connected on three-pointers in the latter half of the final frame to bring RU within 10 points after trailing by as many as 22 in the third quarter.

KNIGHT NOTES

• Rutgers is in its fifth Paradise Jam and own four Paradise Jam titles from 2004, 2009, and 2015, with Michelle Campbell, Brittany Ray, and Kahleah Copper taking tournament MVP honors in respective years.
• Rutgers has outrebounded opponents in all seven games this season.
• Rutgers is undefeated at 4-0 when outscoring opponents in points off turnovers and points on the fast break. RU is 0-3 when trailing in those specialty categories.
• Rutgers has held all seven opponents this season under their scoring averages, stretching that trend to 25 of the last 26 games and 112 in the last 121 dating back to 2017.
• The Starting 5 of Jailyn Mason, Victoria Morris, Lasha Petree, Tyia Singleton, and Osh Brown is the sixth different starting variation employed by acting head coach Timothy Eatman this season.
• Vanderbilt improves to 3-1 against Rutgers.

SOUND OFF

Acting head coach Timothy Eatman: "We have to find a way to start better. Every one of these games, we've started slow. When we're in a hole, we spend too much time fighting back. They played the zone, and we have to do a better job coaching our players to be in the right spot."

UP NEXT

Rutgers concludes the Paradise Jam on Saturday, Nov. 27 against No. 9 Arizona at 3:15 p.m. ET (4:15 p.m. local) on ESPN3.


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