Although it opened the season as the 12th-ranked team in the nation and a preseason Final Four contender, Rutgers quickly dwindled with four out-of-conference losses and lost its national ranking. But since their drop from the polls and the start of conference play, the Knights have been feasting, and on Tuesday Georgetown became the next stop on the Big East buffet.

The Scarlet Knights used an early 33-7 run and stifling defense to limit the Hoyas to 12-of-49 shooting in their 71-41 win at the Louis Brown Athletics Center in Piscataway, N.J.

“We didn’t handle the pressure at all,” Head Coach Terri Williams-Flournoy said, “and they were shooting it well so they made us pay for our turnovers.”

Entering the game, the Hoyas (11-7, 1-4) were hoping to build on momentum after nearly knocking off then-No. 15 Louisville at home on Jan. 9. And for the first 10 minutes of the game, it looked like the Scarlet Knights (10-5, 5-1) would have a game on their hands – they were ahead only 10-7 midway through the first half and Georgetown had just missed two chances to tie the game.

Then Rutgers came alive.

Junior forward Essence Carson scored 10 points in the next seven minutes and the rest of the Scarlet Knights followed her lead on a 21-0 run that ended any hopes of a second-straight nail-biter for the Hoyas. During the run, the Hoyas were 0-for-4 from the field – three of which were three-point attempts – with six turnovers. The Hoyas finished the night 4-of-17 from long range.

Georgetown junior forward Kieraah Marlow ended the carnage, hitting two free throws with 4:58 remaining in the half to bring the score to 31-9. The Hoyas kept pushing, however futilely, scoring six more points in the half for their third-lowest scoring half of the season.

Rutgers sophomore center Kia Vaughn scored 16 points, posted nine rebounds and delivered seven blocks to up her total to 46 in 15 games. Highly-touted Rutgers freshman guard Epiphany Prince had 11 points and four steals.

The Knights beat Georgetown on the glass as well, 42-34, and Head Coach C. Vivian Stringer’s “55” defense forced 19 Hoya turnovers, including 13 steals by the Scarlet Knights. The Hoyas forced 13 turnovers themselves, but did not capitalize, scoring only six points off of Rutgers miscues. The Scarlet Knights, on the other hand, scored an efficient 29 points off Georgetown turnovers to go along with their 26-12 advantage in points in the paint.

“We were just working so hard to break their pressure that we got really out of sync on the offensive end,” Williams-Flournoy said.

Marlow led the Hoyas in scoring for the 10th time this year, scoring 14 on 4-of-13 shooting, including 1-of-5 from three-point range. Marlow has made only two of her last 14 three-point attempts after beginning the year 10-of-22.

Freshman guard Shanice Fuller, who started the season slowly but has matured over the Hoyas’ recent string of tough games, scored 11 points.

“You can see Shanice gaining more confidence, especially on the offensive end going to the basket,” Williams-Flournoy said.

While Fuller’s outside shot still needs work, her four trips to the free throw line show improvement in driving to the hoop.

Georgetown plays its next game at DePaul tomorrow at 8 p.m. in Chicago. The Blue Demons (12-6, 2-3) are just 2-5 in their last seven games and have been inconsistent this year, beating then-No. 21 Rutgers 87-73 on Dec. 7 but recently falling 62-44 to Cincinnati.