PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Redshirt senior Laurin Mincy led four Terrapins in double figures as the eighth-ranked Maryland women’s basketball team (14-2, 5-0 B1G) battled at No. 22 Rutgers (12-5, 4-2) for a 71-59 win Thursday night at The RAC.
Mincy, who grew up 20 minutes from Rutgers, scored a season-high 24 points to go with seven rebounds and six assists for Maryland. Mincy was playing her first collegiate game in her home state.
"It felt really good obviously coming in here and having my family and friends here," Mincy said. "I knew my teammates would fight for me tonight, luckily we came out with the win."
Lexie Brown and Shatori Walker-Kimbrough added 13 points each, while Brionna Jones added her fourth double-double of the season with 12 points and 14 boards.
Maryland came out of the gate hot, as a three by Brown capped a 7-0 run to start the game and forced a Rutgers timeout just 1:22 in. Maryland led by as much as 18 at 25-7 with 13:32 left in the first half.
The Scarlet Knights chipped away at the lead, before cutting it to a four-point game at halftime at 40-36.
The game was tied twice early in the second half, then Rutgers trailed 50-48 before Maryland scored 16 of the next 20 points to take control of the game for good. The Terrapins held the Scarlet Knights to just 28.6 percent (8-for-28) from the field in the second half to secure the win.
Kahleah Copper scored 16 to lead the Scarlet Knights.
The win was the third straight on the road in the conference for Maryland against a Top 25 team. The Terrapins also beat No. 17 Nebraska and 23rd-ranked Minnesota.
This is the first meeting between the two newcomers to the Big Ten, who both joined this season. The two women's basketball powers rarely have played recently with the last matchup coming on Feb. 15, 2009. Maryland won 67-47.
The Terrapins are ranked No. 8 in both the Associated Press poll and the USA Today Division I Coaches poll.
Next, the Terrapins will return home to host Illinois (11-6, 2-3) Sunday at 2 p.m. in XFINITY Center.
For tickets to Sunday’s game or for a season ticket package, log on to the Terrapin Ticket Office online at umterps.com or call 1-800-IM-A-TERP. Parking will be free and open in all of the lots surrounding XFINITY Center.
All kids 12 and under are invited for Kids Court after the game to shoot hoops on the court.
The Terps-Illini game will be streamed live on the BTN2Go app, which is the official app of the Big Ten Network. It will be a BTN Plus production and will require an additional subscription. Fans can access all Big Ten content on BTN Plus for $119.95 per year or a $14.95 monthly subscription. A Maryland School Pass for BTN Plus, which includes all Terrapin contests, home and away, on BTN Plus for $79.95 per year or for a $9.95 monthly subscription.
Sunday’s game is one of five games on the radio and can be heard on WJZ 1300 AM (Baltimore), SportsTalk 570 AM (DC), WARK 1490 AM (Hagerstown), WFRB 560 AM (Cumberland) and WFMD 930 AM (Frederick).
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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