Starting 5: Women's Basketball vs. No. 9/12 Arizona

Saturday, November 27

St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands

3:15 PM ET

Rutgers University

No. 9/12 Arizona

Starting 5: Women's Basketball vs. No. 9/12 Arizona

Nov 27 | Women's Basketball

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The five things to know before the Scarlet Knights face their first ranked opponents of the season, the No. 9/12 Wildcats, at the Paradise Jam on Saturday in the U.S. Virgin Islands

SAINT THOMAS, U.S. Virgin Islands - Rutgers women's basketball (4-3) concludes the Paradise Jam in the U.S. Virgin Islands on Saturday, Nov. 27 at 3:15 p.m. ET (4:15 p.m. local) with its first test against a ranked opponent, facing No. 9/12 Arizona (6-0) 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

The nationally-ranked Wildcats are undefeated to start 2021-22, including a 61-59 win over then-No. 6 Louisville on Nov. 12 on a neutral court in San Diego.
Arizona held off a gritty DePaul squad, 75-68, in its second game at the Paradise Jam on Friday. Cate Reese was dominant inside, leading four Wildcats in double-figures with 19 points and 9 rebounds. Shaina Pellington followed up her heroics against Vanderbilt with 14 points, including 11 in the second half while Ariyah Copeland scored 11 points on 5-5 shooting and Lauren ware added 12 points.
Lauren Ware's 2.4 blocked shots per game help the Wildcats to a No. 6 national ranking in blocked shots per game at 7.4.

2. THE HEAD-TO-HEAD

3. TURN 'EM OVER & TURN IT UP

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. The Scarlet Knights are averaging 19.5 points off turnovers in their four victories this season.

4. OH MY OSH

Osh Brown, a graduate transfer from Ball State now with 1,542 career points, is the NCAA Division I active career leader in rebounds with 1,185 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 16th in the country and tops in the Big Ten with 11.3 rebounds per game.

5. FOURS UP

Rutgers' highest scoring quarter has been the fourth in six of its seven games to open up the season, including a 25-point fourth period in the comeback win against Harvard. The Scarlet Knights are averaging 18.6 points in the fourth quarter, 4.0 more than their next highest scoring quarter (third).

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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. 4 conference ranking at 1.4 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 26 of its last 27 games, and 112 of its last 121 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. The Florida State transfer ranks third in the Big Ten with 2.6 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 9.7 points in the paint and by 15.6 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 the highest percentage of field goals assisted (95%).

• Rutgers ranks 6th in the country with 38 total blocks (33rd with 5.4 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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