No. 6/7 Rutgers Women's Basketball Routs Providence
Jan 20 | Women's Basketball
PISCATAWAY, NJ – The No. 6/7 Rutgers women’s basketball team (13-3, 4-0 BIG EAST) scored 20 of the games first 24 points en route to a 74-40 victory over Providence (1-15, 0-4 BIG EAST) on Thursday evening at the Louis Brown Athletic Center. The win was RU’s eighth in the last nine games.
The Scarlet Knights were never seriously threatened in the contest, jumping out to a 9-0 lead in the first 2:43 of regulation, including six points from Michelle Campbell (Princeton, NJ). After the Friars hit a jumper and two free throws to make the score 9-4, Rutgers scored the contest’s next 11 points to go ahead 20-4 with 10:09 remaining in the opening stanza.
Rutgers grabbed a 20-point halftime lead (34-14) on the strength of a defensive effort that held Providence to 4-of-18 shooting (22.2 percent) in the first half and forced 16 turnovers. Six different players scored for Rutgers, including Campbell and Cappie Pondexter (Chicago, IL), who each had eight points.
Rutgers led by as many as 36 points in the second half (62-26) as all 11 players in uniform saw action. In all, the Scarlet Knights received 38 points from their bench.
As she has over the past seven games, freshmen guard Matee Ajavon (Newark, NJ) came off the bench to provide RU with an offensive spark. The reigning BIG EAST C-Freshman of the Week contributed 13 points and a career-high 10 assists in 22 minutes of action. Pondexter had a game-high 19 points, and is now just 16 points shy of passing Patty Coyle for 17th place on Rutgers’ all-time scoring list. Essence Carson (Paterson, NJ) had a productive night, notching 10 points on four-of-six shooting while pulling down four rebounds. Campbell added 14 points as Rutgers shot 51.7 percent from the floor.
Jill Furstenberg (15 points) and Shauna Snyder (11 points, seven rebounds) were the only Friars to notch double figures. Providence made just 33.3 percent of its field-goal attempts and turned the ball over 25 times, leading to 36 Rutgers points.
Tonight’s game can be seen on a tape-delayed basis on Patriot Media on Saturday, Jan. 22, at 9:00 p.m. and Sunday, Jan. 23, at 2:00 p.m.
Rutgers returns to action on Sunday, Jan. 23, when it travels to South Bend, IN, to face No. 11/10 Notre Dame at 2:00 p.m. The game will be shown live on MSG.
Postgame Notes
ANOTHER MILESTONE FOR STRINGER
With tonight’s win, Rutgers head coach C. Vivian Stringer reached another coaching milestone. She now has 708 career victories, which ties her with former LSU head coach Sue Gunter for third place on the all-time wins chart. Additionally, tonight was Stringer’s 950th game as a head coach.
All-Time Victories Leaders (Through games of Jan. 20)
Name Seasons W-L Record
Pat Summitt, Tennessee 30 864-170
Jody Conradt, Texas 35 856-275
C. Vivian Stringer, Rutgers 32 708-242
Sue Gunter, LSU (retired) 34 708-308
TAKING THE BALL AWAY
A tenacious Scarlet Knight defense forced 25 Providence turnovers. Additionally, Rutgers has registered the top three games in the forced turnovers category in the BIG EAST this season (conference games only).
1. Rutgers vs. Pittsburgh Jan. 11 27 turnovers
2. Rutgers vs. Providence Jan. 20 25 turnovers
2. Rutgers vs. Georgetown Jan. 13 25 turnovers
DOING IT WITH DEFENSE
Rutgers continued its trend of holding opponents under 20 points in a half, as the Friars managed just 14 first-half points on 4-of-18 shooting. Overall, Rutgers had held 11 of its 16 opponents to 20 or less points in a half.
HOME COURT AVERAGES
Inside the friendly confines of the Louis Brown Athletic Center this season, Rutgers is:
--winning by an average of 24.3 points per game
--forcing an average of 21.1 turnovers per game
--scoring 68.4 points per game
--giving up an average of 44.1 points per game
PONDEXTER ON THE CAREER CHARTS
With 19 points tonight, senior guard Cappie Pondexter now has 1,193 in her career, good for 18th place. She is just 16 points shy of passing Patty Coyle (1978-82), who scored 1,209 points.
AJAVON FIRST DOUBLE-DOUBLE
Freshmen guard Matee Ajavon recorded her first double-double with 13 points and 10 assists. The last time a Rutgers player had double-digit assists was Cappie Pondexter against St. John’s on Jan. 17, 2004 (11).
4-0 BIG EAST START
Rutgers is off to its best BIG EAST Conference start since the 1999-2000 season, in which it also began 4-0.
Official Basketball Box Score
Providence vs Rutgers
01/20/05 7:30 p.m. at Louis Brown Athl. Center; Piscataway, NJ
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VISITORS: Providence 1-15, 0-5
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
24 SNYDER, Shauna...... f 4-14 3-3 0-0 2 5 7 1 11 1 3 0 0 35
50 HOWARD, Danielle.... f 1-2 0-0 0-0 1 2 3 5 2 0 3 2 3 22
25 BROWN, Kristen...... c 0-1 0-0 2-2 0 2 2 1 2 0 3 0 0 12
02 BAUGH, Kristina..... g 1-5 0-0 2-2 0 2 2 3 4 3 3 0 0 40
14 FURSTENBURG, Jill... g 5-10 3-4 2-2 1 1 2 0 15 3 6 0 1 40
21 SHIELDS, Ciara...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 3
22 GARD, Allie......... 1-4 1-3 1-2 0 1 1 0 4 5 3 0 0 30
55 SEREBRYANSKAYA, Yuli 1-3 0-0 0-2 0 0 0 3 2 0 0 0 0 18
TEAM................ 2 5 7 1
Totals.............. 13-39 7-10 7-10 6 18 24 13 40 12 25 2 4 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 4-18 22.2% 2nd Half: 9-21 42.9% Game: 33.3% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-4 50.0% 2nd Half: 5-6 83.3% Game: 70.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 4-4 100 % 2nd Half: 3-6 50.0% Game: 70.0% 1
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HOME TEAM: Rutgers 13-3, 4-0
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
34 CAMPBELL, Michelle.. f 6-11 0-0 2-2 2 0 2 2 14 0 0 0 0 27
03 LOCKE, Courtney..... g 0-2 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 2 2 0 0 16
05 CARSON, Essence..... g 4-6 1-1 1-2 2 2 4 1 10 1 1 1 3 17
13 JETT, Nikki......... g 3-5 1-3 0-0 0 0 0 0 7 0 1 1 1 24
32 NEWTON, Chelsea..... g 1-3 1-1 2-2 1 0 1 0 5 2 1 0 2 12
12 ADAMS, Katie........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 8
20 REED, Tudy.......... 2-6 0-2 0-2 1 2 3 2 4 2 2 1 0 14
22 AJAVON, Matee....... 6-10 0-1 1-1 1 3 4 2 13 10 1 0 5 22
25 PONDEXTER, Cappie... 7-12 3-5 2-2 0 2 2 1 19 3 1 0 3 29
42 THEODORIS, Mariota.. 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 5 6 0 0 1 1 0 0 13
55 RICHMAN, Rebecca.... 1-3 0-0 0-2 3 5 8 1 2 0 0 2 2 18
TEAM................ 2 2 4 1
Totals.............. 30-58 6-14 8-13 13 22 35 10 74 22 11 5 16 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-29 44.8% 2nd Half: 17-29 58.6% Game: 51.7% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-9 44.4% 2nd Half: 2-5 40.0% Game: 42.9% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 4-7 57.1% 2nd Half: 4-6 66.7% Game: 61.5% 2
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Officials: Bonita Spence, Jack Plunkett, Denise Brooks-Clauser
Technical fouls: Providence-None. Rutgers-None.
Attendance: 2509
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Providence.................... 14 26 - 40
Rutgers....................... 34 40 - 74
ID-293624
Points in the paint-FRIARS 8,RUTGERS 28. Points off turnovers-FRIARS 9,RUTGERS 36.
2nd chance points-FRIARS 8,RUTGERS 12. Fast break points-FRIARS 2,RUTGERS 12.
Bench points-FRIARS 6,RUTGERS 38. Score tied-0 times. Lead changed-0 times.
Last FG-FRIARS 2nd-00:00, RUTGERS 2nd-00:10.
