Senior Rashidat Junaid posted her second career double-double.
Dale Zanine
Brittany Ray
Dale Zanine
ATHENS, Ga. (November 22, 2009) – Rutgers women’s basketball could not sustain a double-digit lead, falling to No. 16/22 Georgia, 49-48 on Sunday afternoon at Stegeman Coliseum.
Senior Rashidat Junaid (Chesilhurst, N.J.) posted her second career double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Junaid added a career-best five blocks.
Freshman Monique Oliver (Las Vegas, Nev.) had 11 points for the Scarlet Knights (2-2).
Georgia (3-0) was led by guard Ashley Houts’ 17 points.
The teams combined to commit 14 turnovers in the first 10 minutes of the game as Houts put UGA ahead, 10-9. Rutgers used a 7-1 spurt to push ahead by five, 16-11, on a put-back from Oliver with 7:51 to go in the half. The Lady Bulldogs responded with an 11-0 run, capped by two free throws by Portia Phillips to lead, 22-16. RU turned the ball over three times during the UGA run.
Senior Myia McCurdy ignited a 5-0 run to close to 22-21 before the home team closed out the half from the charity stripe to move ahead by four (25-21) at intermission. UGA scored 13 of its 25 points from the free throw line in the first stanza.
Both teams began the second half with more miscues, but Rutgers was able to turn some UGA turnovers into points. Senior Brittany Ray (Bronx, N.Y.) stole the ball and fed Junaid on fast-break lay-up and sophomore April Sykes (Starkville, Miss.) followed with a three-pointer from the top of the key to give RU a 32-30 edge with 13:51 remaining. The lead was the first since the 6:59 mark of the first half.
The Scarlet Knights added to the advantage behind the play of Chelsey Lee (Miami, Fla.), who rattled off five straight points. A 12-foot bank shot with 10:57 on the clock by Lee pushed RU ahead, 37-30 with 10:57 showing. The game was halted for close to 10 minutes after Georgia senior Angel Robinson hit her head on the hardcourt fighting for a loose ball. She was carried off the game on a stretcher.
Once play began, Rutgers rushed out to a 12-point lead- its largest- on four straight points from Oliver with 7:15 to go. From that point, everything seemed to go UGA’s way. Houts drilled a three-pointer to commence a 15-2 Georgia run. RU sophomore guard Khadijah Rushdan (Wilmington, Del.) had been carried off the court on the previous play with a suspected knee injury.
After RU turned it over on two consecutive possessions on questionable calls that had both field goals negated, Georgia retook the lead on a triple by Anne Marie Armstrong with 2:03 to play.
After it appeared to be Rutgers ball on a back-court by Georgia with 11.2 seconds left, the officials conversed and reversed the call. Houts hit two from the stripe with 8.9 seconds to make it a three-point game (49-46). McCurdy nailed a baseline 17-footer with less than three seconds showing. Rutgers’ Sykes intercepted UGA’s inbounds pass near midcourt but her heave for the win went off the rim.
Postgame Notes
All-Time Series
• Rutgers falls to 3-8 all-time against Georgia and 20-35 against the SEC.
Just Missed
• This was the first one-point loss for the Scarlet Knights since the 2008 BIG EAST Tournament, when Rutgers fell to Louisville on March 9, 2008 by a score of 57-56.
Run Away With It
• The Scarlet Knights – down four at the half – started the second stanza on a 19-5 run, which included a 13-0 run over a 6:26 minute span on the shoulders of Chelsey Lee with six points. After the run, RU sat at 40-30.
Break Out Game
• Rashidat Junaid completed the second double-double of her career with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Her only other double-double came as a sophomore in the Maggie Dixon Classic against Army on Dec. 8, 2007.
• Junaid also had a career high in blocks with five, tying her career high in rebounds with 11. She reached that mark on March 3, 2008 against Connecticut.
All the Little Things
• Rashidat Junaid completed the second three-point play for the Scarlet Knights, bringing the Scarlet Knights to within one with 3:22 left to play in the first half.
• Junaid also took the first charge of the year with 17:02 remaining against Jasmine Hassell.
More Time, More Production
• Monique Oliver saw a career high 22 minutes, netting a career high in points (11), rebounds (7) and tying her career high with two steals.
Good D!
• The Scarlet Knights held the Lady Bulldogs to without a field goal for the first six minutes of the contest. For the first half, RU held UGA to 5-of-26 (19.2 percent) from the floor. UGA’s 19.2 field goal percentage was the lowest by an RU opponent since Feb. 7, 2009 when the Georgetown Hoyas shot the same against Rutgers in the first half.
On the Glass
• Rutgers outrebounded its first Division I opponent, grabbing 45 boards to Georgia’s 31.
Low Scoring Affairs
• The 21 first half points was the lowest for Rutgers since March 2, 2009 when the Scarlet Knights scored just 20 against then-No. 1/1 Connecticut.
Change it up!
• Coach C. Vivian Stringer changed the starting lineup for the first time this season. In place of Chelsey Lee, senior Myia McCurdy got the nod. It was the 25th start of McCurdy’s career. The Scarlet Knights are now 0-1 with Rushdan, Ray, Sykes, McCurdy and Junaid.
All-Time Series
• Rutgers falls to 3-8 all-time against Georgia and 20-35 against the SEC.
Just Missed
• This was the first one-point loss for the Scarlet Knights since the 2008 BIG EAST Tournament, when Rutgers fell to Louisville on March 9, 2008 by a score of 57-56.
Run Away With It
• The Scarlet Knights – down four at the half – started the second stanza on a 19-5 run, which included a 13-0 run over a 6:26 minute span on the shoulders of Chelsey Lee with six points. After the run, RU sat at 40-30.
Break Out Game
• Rashidat Junaid completed the second double-double of her career with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Her only other double-double came as a sophomore in the Maggie Dixon Classic against Army on Dec. 8, 2007.
• Junaid also had a career high in blocks with five, tying her career high in rebounds with 11. She reached that mark on March 3, 2008 against Connecticut.
All the Little Things
• Rashidat Junaid completed the second three-point play for the Scarlet Knights, bringing the Scarlet Knights to within one with 3:22 left to play in the first half.
• Junaid also took the first charge of the year with 17:02 remaining against Jasmine Hassell.
More Time, More Production
• Monique Oliver saw a career high 22 minutes, netting a career high in points (11), rebounds (7) and tying her career high with two steals.
Good D!
• The Scarlet Knights held the Lady Bulldogs to without a field goal for the first six minutes of the contest. For the first half, RU held UGA to 5-of-26 (19.2 percent) from the floor. UGA’s 19.2 field goal percentage was the lowest by an RU opponent since Feb. 7, 2009 when the Georgetown Hoyas shot the same against Rutgers in the first half.
On the Glass
• Rutgers outrebounded its first Division I opponent, grabbing 45 boards to Georgia’s 31.
Low Scoring Affairs
• The 21 first half points was the lowest for Rutgers since March 2, 2009 when the Scarlet Knights scored just 20 against then-No. 1/1 Connecticut.
Change it up!
• Coach C. Vivian Stringer changed the starting lineup for the first time this season. In place of Chelsey Lee, senior Myia McCurdy got the nod. It was the 25th start of McCurdy’s career. The Scarlet Knights are now 0-1 with Rushdan, Ray, Sykes, McCurdy and Junaid.
