Lucky number seven.
No. 25 Rutgers women's basketball won its seventh consecutive game by beating Penn State, 60-55, on Sunday afternoon at the Bryce Jordan Center in University Park, Pa.
The win moves Rutgers' record to 12-3 overall and 8-3 in Big Ten play into a tie with No. 12 Michigan for third place in the conference.
"It was another gutsy win, because we weren't playing well," Rutgers head coach C. Vivian Stringer said. "That's a tribute to Penn State. They got the ball, rebounded really well, and rammed down our throats, and we were just trying to stave them off. But at the end of the day, what I did like is that we didn't lose confidence."
Rutgers started to turn the corner with a 13-1 run between the first and second quarters to go up 22-9. Guirantes scored seven points during the spurt. The Scarlet Knights held Penn State to its lowest first half total and led 27-17 at the break.
But the visitors went cold in the third as Penn State went on a big 18-3 run. It took its first lead of the game at 33-30 on 3-pointer from the left corner by Shay Hagans, prompting a timeout by Stringer. Rutgers had just those three points the opening six minutes of the third before Tekia Mack hit a jump shot.
After Penn State went up 38-32, Rutgers closed the frame on a 10-2 run, including a layup by Diamond Johnson with three seconds left. Mael Gilles made two 3-pointers during the stretch.
"We needed her didn't we," Stringer said. "She's been shooting very well in practice. In a game of this magnitude, Mael stepped up. She hit big time shots, rebounded, well, and did all the things that we needed to have. Mael isn't usually are leading scorer, but I sometimes wonder if she were to have been put in a situation where she's got to score in order for us to win, I think she would even work on it that much more. It was good to see that."
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In the fourth quarter, the Scarlet Knights went on a 10-0 spurt as Tyia Singleton made two layups inside and Mack swished a wide-open triple to take a 47-45 lead. Mack made her second trey of the game to go up 52-45 and then Rutgers forced a shot clock violation right after.
Arella Guirantes made a tough, clutch layup with a defender all over her with 43 seconds left and after a Nittany Lions bucket, Singleton converted another layup to put Rutgers up again by six.
With 19 seconds remaining, Hagans made a three to cut Rutgers to lead three.
Guirantes made one more free throw and Singleton came up with a big rebound, and Johnson
For the full stats, click here.
RUTGERS PLAYER OF THE GAME: Senior F Mael Gilles
Gilles came into the game averaging just 7.1 points per game. She's more of a steady defender. But, she found some offense against the Nittany Lions, scoring 16 points. Her career-high is 17.
Gilles also had three rebounds, two blocks, and two steals.
"I just see her continue to really be confident," Guirantes said of Gilles. "Watching her the past couple games and to not be as involved in offense and on as she normally is, we're used to her being a knockdown shooter. It was just nice seeing her continue to keep shooting. My favorite line is 'shooters shoot'. You miss 100% of the shots that you don't take, and I tell her all the time even Liz (Martino), this is what you guys do. Be confident and trust your reps, and don't get down you know if you see the ball go out, because you never know when the next one's going in. Mael stepped up big for us."
RHOOPS PLAY OF THE GAME: Johnson records a steal and then swishes a 3-pointer on the other end after coming back from her ankle injury.
KEY STATS: Rutgers assisted on seven of the team's 12 field goals in the opening half and 15 of 25 makes for the game. Rutgers also scored 13 points off 17 Penn State turnovers.
UP NEXT: Rutgers completes a home-and-home with Penn State on Tuesday night in a makeup of an earlier postponement on Jan. 21. You can see the game on BTN at 5:30 p.m.
The Scarlet Knights then take on No. 15 Ohio State at home at 8:00 p.m. on Friday on ESPN to close out the regular season.
"When Penn State comes to our place, believe me, I know that we did not play well," Stringer said. "I'm hoping that Penn State thinks that we played well. We'll see."
Follow Chris Nalwasky on Twitter @ChrisWasky.
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