Starting 5: Women's Basketball at Pittsburgh

Wednesday, December 1

Pittsburgh, PA

6 PM ET

Rutgers University

Pittsburgh

Nov 30 | Women's Basketball

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The five things to know before the Scarlet Knights travel to Pittsburgh for the 2021 Big Ten/ACC Challenge on Wed., Dec. 1

PITTSBURGH, Pa. - Rutgers women's basketball (4-4) visits Pittsburgh (5-2) on Wed., Dec. 1 at 6 p.m. ET for the 2021 Big Ten/ACC Challenge. The Scarlet Knights are looking to improve on a 2-4 record in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge after picking up a win over Virginia in the last Challenge in December of 2019.

ON THE AIR

Watch on ACC Network (PxP: Alex Perlman; Analyst: Christy Thomascutty)
Listen on Fox Sports New Jersey 93.5 FM/1450 AM (PxP: Ralph Bednarczk; Analyst: Mark Peterson)
Listen on WRSU 88.7 FM Tuesday (Play-by-play: Gideon Fox & Jake Schmied)

The 5 Things to Know

1. THE SCOUT

Pittsburgh joined Rutgers at the Paradise Jam in the U.S. Virgin Islands last week. Traveling down with a 4-0 record, the Panthers went 1-2 in Saint Thomas with a win over Northwestern (72-60) and losses to Texas A&M (57-46) and South Dakota (72-61 in overtime).
The Panthers were without their top scorer, Jayla Everett, who has 18.3 points per game through four contests.
Dayshanette Harris has 11.0ppg and has scored in double-figures in the last two games.

2. THE HEAD-TO-HEAD

3. HEART & SPIRIT

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. In the opening game of the Paradise Jam, Rutgers nearly erased another 18-point deficit, getting within two points of DePaul before a tight, 77-74 loss.

4. OH MY OSH

Osh Brown, a graduate transfer from Ball State now with 1,551 career points, is the NCAA Division I active career leader in rebounds with 1,190 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 20-20 since Betnijah Laney's in 2014 against UNC.

5. FOURS UP

Rutgers' highest-scoring quarter has been the fourth in seven of its eight games to open up the season, including a 25-point fourth period in the comeback win against Harvard and 20 against No. 9 ranked Arizona, the 2021 NCAA Tournament runner-up.

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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.

• Rutgers is 4-0 when outscoring opponents in points off turnovers and points on the fast break, but 0-4 when trailing in those categories.

• Osh Brown's 20-point, 20-rebound double-double vs. DePaul was Rutgers' first in a game since Betnijah Laney's 24-24 against UNC on Dec. 5, 2014 in a 2OT game (21-20 at the end of regulation). It fell two shy of Brown's career-high of 22 rebounds, set in the 2021 NCAA Tournament last season, a Ball State program record.

• Rutgers' highest-scoring quarter has been the fourth in seven of eight games this season – including 20 apiece against Saint Peter's, South Alabama, and No. 9 Arizona, 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. 5 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 25 of its last 27 games, and 112 of its last 122 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 2.3 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 5.0 points in the paint and by 10.1 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 17th in the country with 40 total blocks (35th with 5.0 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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