In six prior games against Rutgers Prep, Gandy Malou-Mamel – the UConn-bound Gill St. Bernard’s senior – never scored in double figures. In fact, she scored ten or more in all but three games last season, and those three came against the Argonauts.

So, when after one quarter, Malou-Mamel had nine and Gill was down by just three, at 17-14, you’d figure this would be a close one down to the wire.

It wasn’t.

The problem was, the supporting cast couldn’t do much else – the rest of the starting five combined for just 11 points – and top-ranked Rutgers Prep came away with a 61-38 win over third-ranked Gill St. Bernard’s, the Argos’ 24th straight in the series.

Malou-Mamel – who sat the bench for a bit in the second quarter with two fouls – finished with a game-high 21 for Gill (1-1).

The contest saw five lead changes and two ties, but all those came in the first quarter. The Argonauts never trailed after taking the lead for the third time in the first eight minutes.

Prep (2-0) eventually built up to as big as a 17-point lead in the third before winning by 23, as they started hitting from beyond the arc. Junior Natalia Valdez – little used last year – broke out with a 13-point night, including three treys, all in the second half.

Freshman Hailey Benbow finished with 11, including a triple, and junior transfer Sophia Georgiades (from Ridge) also had 22, including three treys.

Click below for postgame reaction from head coach Mary Klinger, and juniors Ava LaMonica and Natallia Valdez, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen: