Rutgers women's basketball set to travel to face Penn State
After a back-and-forth matchup with the number eight team in the country, the Rutgers women’s basketball team travels to State College to take on Penn State tonight. The Scarlet Knights (4-6, 0-1) will look to break their current five-game losing streak that last included a 14-point loss to No. 8 Maryland.
Following a 4-1 start that saw Rutgers survive an 18-point fourth quarter deficit against Harvard, the Knights are now being outscored by 3.2 points per game (PPG) by their opponents on the season. Shooting has hampered the success of the offense, as the team is less than 37 percent from the field and less than 30 percent from behind the three-point line.
Rutgers' defense continues to keep the team in games, forcing 15 turnovers against the Terrapins (8-2, 1-0) who came into the game with the best turnover percentage in the NCAA. The Knights cause an average of 21.3 turnovers per game, with 10 of those coming on steals.
Graduate student guard Jailyn Mason is on milestone watch for this game, as she is 9 points away from reaching 1,000 for her college career. Graduate students forward Osh Brown, guard Victoria Morris and senior guard Lasha Petree have already reached this milestone, and Mason would make Rutgers the only team in the country to have four 1,000 point scorers on their roster.
The Nittany Lions (4-5, 0-1) are on a losing streak of their own, dropping their last four games including a 30-point loss to Indiana in their last time out. Makenna Marisa shined in the effort, scoring 21 points to record her sixth 20-point game of the season. Marisa averages more than 21.3 PPG, leading the program.
As a team, Penn State averages nearly 75 PPG, and they shoot approximately 45 percent from the field. Ali Brigham is the only other player in the program to average double-digit scoring.
In the matchup between these two programs, the Knights won 12 of the last 13 games played since the 2006 season. Rutgers is 11-1 against the Nittany Lions since joining the Big Ten and has won the last six games in the series.
Tip-off at Bryce Jordan Center will take place at 7 p.m., with the game being broadcasted on Big Ten Network+ and 88.7 WRSU-FM.
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