When Maryland women’s basketball guard Blair Watson rose up and grabbed a bricked three-pointer by Rutgers guard Noga Peleg Pelc with 33 seconds left Sunday, the final miss was emblematic of the shift from the teams’ prior meeting.

In the Terps’ 73-65 New Year’s Eve defeat to the Scarlet Knights, Maryland was dominated in two crucial phases of the game. Rutgers went an uncharacteristic 9-for-21 from behind the arc, and the usually solid Maryland defense relinquished 19 boards on the offensive glass.

But in the rematch, the No. 10 Terps corrected their prior shortcomings by out-rebounding the No. 20 Scarlet Knights 35-24 and limiting the home side to just two treys.

And following an 18-2 start, the game was rarely in doubt as Maryland (22-2, 11-2 Big Ten) raced to a 62-48 win over Rutgers (17-6, 9-3) to enact revenge and grab control of its own destiny in the Big Ten title race.

“It speaks volumes to the growth of our team since we last played them,” coach Brenda Frese said. “We punched first and never looked back.”

From the opening tip, the Terps were locked in.

Watson and Guard Taylor Mikesell each hit early threes, and Maryland raced to a 7-0 lead. But the pace began to crawl after the fiery start, and the Terps didn’t score for more than four minutes.

Even with the first-quarter offensive drought, Maryland’s defense didn’t miss a beat.

After guard Ciani Cryor scored a driving lay-in to give the Scarlet Knights their first points of the contest nearly three minutes into the game, the home squad didn’t score again for more than seven minutes.

In the teams’ late-December meeting, Rutgers made five first-quarter threes. But by the end of the opening 10 minutes on Sunday, the Scarlet Knights were just 2-for-12 from the field with six turnovers, and they trailed the Terps, 18-4.

“Our press gave them problems,” Frese said. “With the shot clock going down on possessions, they weren’t getting shots that they really wanted.”

Rutgers upped its aggressiveness on defense in the second quarter and attempted to speed Maryland up by extending its full-court pressure — a strategy that initially worked. The Terps had five turnovers in the frame, and the Scarlet Knights clawed within eight points after guard Arella Guirantes scored in transition following a Maryland giveaway.

But despite shooting a much-improved 41.2 percent in the quarter and outscoring Maryland, 17-16, in the period, Rutgers still trailed 34-21 at the break.

“As you can see from the last time we played,” said guard Kaila Charles, who scored a game-high 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting, “we’ve made a big jump.”

One of the greatest areas of growth between the two meetings occurred in the rebounding department. The Scarlet Knights grabbed 10 more rebounds than the Terps last time around, but on Sunday, Maryland flipped the script and secured 11 more than its opposition.

Forward Stephanie Jones scored 12 points and added seven boards to help pace the Terps down low. Watson contributed a game-high eight rebounds from the guard position.

“[Rebounding] was a big focus,” Frese said. “We were disappointed. We knew we were capable of being a lot better on the glass. … And I thought we were remarkable, especially in that first half.”

Rutgers was without its leading rebounder in forward Caitlin Jenkins, who is suspended indefinitely for a violation of team policy. The senior had four points and four rebounds in the teams’ prior meeting.

Following the competitive second period, the third quarter more closely resembled the opening 10 minutes.

The Scarlet Knights had three more turnovers than field goals in the frame, and a blistering 9-for-12 shooting performance by Maryland ballooned its advantage as high as 21. The Terps led 53-34 going into the final 10 minutes.

Although Maryland took its foot off the gas pedal in the fourth quarter — Rutgers won the period 14-9 — the Terps’ opening-quarter onslaught proved too much to overcome. And Maryland held on for a 62-48 victory over the Scarlet Knights — its seventh consecutive by double-digits.

“I’m just glad we came in and got the win,” Charles said. “We’ve been working hard. We’ve been trying to get better. And we were able to execute.”