Campbell, Pondexter Key No. 8/9 Rutgers Past West Virginia
Jan 30 | Women's Basketball
PISCATAWAY, NJ - The No. 8/9 Rutgers women's basketball team (15-4, 6-1 BIG EAST) held West Virginia scoreless for 12:43 in the first half and registered a 70-49 victory over the Mountaineers on Sunday afternoon at the Louis Brown Athletic Center.
While scoring 21 of the game's first 23 points, Rutgers held West Virginia (12-7, 3-5 BIG EAST) to 0-of-6 shooting, forced 18 turnovers and never looked back. Senior Cappie Pondexter (Chicago, IL) and junior Michelle Campbell (Princeton, NJ) each scored eight first-half points as the Scarlet Knights took a 31-20 lead into the locker room. During a six-minute span in the first half, Rutgers forced WVU into 12 consecutive turnovers.
West Virginia closed to within 10 early in the second half, but that's as close as the Mountaineers would get. Leading 37-27, Rutgers went on a 10-2 run to take a 47-29 lead with 10:40 remaining. RU put the game away with an 11-2 run which gave it a 61-41 advantage with 4:53 to play.
Campbell finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds, her third double-double of the season. Pondexter had 16 points and six assists, and also passed Tammy Sutton-Brown for 15th place on Rutgers' all-time scoring list. Essence Carson (Paterson, NJ) had a productive game, netting 13 points and grabbing eight rebounds in 34 minutes of action. Matee Ajavon (Newark, NJ) once again provided a spark off the bench, scoring eight points and handing out six assists in 18 minutes. The Scarlet Knights shot 58.6 percent from the floor (17-29) in the second half.
Rutgers' defensive pressure forced a BIG EAST season-high 29 turnovers. The Scarlet Knights scored 29 points off of WVU miscues. Meg Bulger, who came into the game as the BIG EAST's leading scorer, had 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting.
With the win, Rutgers is off to its best BIG EAST start since the 1998-99 season when it began 9-1 on its way to a 17-1 conference finish.
The Scarlet Knights return to action on Thursday, Feb. 3, when they travel to Hartford, CT, to face No. 9/10 Connecticut. Tip-off is slated for 7:00 p.m. and the game can be seen live on College Sports Television (CSTV).
POSTGAME NOTES
SCARLET KNIGHTS IN BIG EAST PLAY
With today's victory, Rutgers (15-4, 6-1 BIG EAST) is off to its best seven-game conference start since the 1998-99 season. That year, the Scarlet Knights opened 9-1 on their way to a 17-1 BIG EAST finish.
TAKING THE BALL AWAY
A tenacious Scarlet Knight defense forced a BIG EAST Conference season-high 29 turnovers. Additionally, Rutgers has registered three of the top four games in the forced turnovers category (conference games only).
1. West Virginia at Rutgers Jan. 30, 2005 29 turnovers
2. Pittsburgh at Rutgers Jan. 11, 2005 27 turnovers
3. Pittsburgh at Boston College Jan. 29, 2005 26 turnovers
4. Georgetown at Rutgers Jan. 13, 2005 25 turnovers
Additionally, from the 15:17 mark of the first half until 9:36 remained in the first half, Rutgers forced 12 consecutive turnovers.
AHEAD AT THE HALF
Rutgers is 13-2 this season when it leads at halftime, including a perfect 9-0 at the Louis Brown Athletic Center.
HAPPY CAPPIE
Senior All-America guard Cappie Pondexter continues to round into shape. A look at her stat line over the previous four games.
Opponent FGM-FGA Pts. Reb. Ast.
Providence 7-12 19 2 3
at Notre Dame 8-19 17 6 0
at Boston College 11-17 27 2 4
West Virginia 6-13 16 5 6
TOTALS 32-61 (.525) 79 15 13
Additionally, Pondexter passed Tammy Sutton-Brown (1997-2001) for 15th place all time on the Rutgers career scoring chart. She has 1,253 career points.
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 22.0 turnovers per game
--scoring 69.0 points per game
--giving up an average of 44.6 points per game
Official Basketball Box Score
West Virginia vs Rutgers
01/30/05 12:00 p.m. at Louis Brown Athl. Center; Piscataway, NJ
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VISITORS: West Virginia 12-7, 3-5
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
45 SANNI, Olayinka..... c 1-4 0-0 0-1 2 2 4 3 2 1 0 1 1 18
04 BULGER, Meg......... g 7-12 3-3 2-2 0 3 3 4 19 1 7 1 0 39
12 PAIGE, Yolanda...... g 3-8 1-2 6-7 0 3 3 1 13 3 7 0 0 40
14 SOWHO, Sherell...... g 2-8 1-7 2-2 0 2 2 0 7 1 4 0 1 40
22 COLE, CHAKHIA....... g 3-6 0-0 2-3 1 6 7 4 8 1 5 1 2 39
10 GLUSKO, Kate........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2
32 McGEE, Ramika....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 0 0 0 2 2 0 13
44 LEE, Jeriece........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 9
TEAM................ 1 5 6 2
Totals.............. 16-38 5-12 12-15 4 23 27 13 49 7 29 5 4 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 7-16 43.8% 2nd Half: 9-22 40.9% Game: 42.1% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-5 40.0% 2nd Half: 3-7 42.9% Game: 41.7% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 4-6 66.7% 2nd Half: 8-9 88.9% Game: 80.0% 2
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HOME TEAM: Rutgers 15-4, 6-1
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 9-13 0-0 2-5 5 6 11 2 20 1 0 0 1 30
03 LOCKE, Courtney..... g 2-4 1-2 0-0 0 0 0 0 5 0 2 0 0 13
05 CARSON, Essence..... g 6-10 0-0 1-2 3 5 8 0 13 3 2 0 1 34
13 JETT, Nikki......... g 1-9 0-6 0-0 0 0 0 2 2 8 2 1 4 39
32 NEWTON, Chelsea..... g 1-4 0-0 0-0 2 0 2 2 2 2 1 0 2 13
12 ADAMS, Katie........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
20 REED, Tudy.......... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2
22 AJAVON, Matee....... 3-8 2-4 0-0 0 0 0 2 8 6 1 0 1 18
25 PONDEXTER, Cappie... 6-13 3-5 1-2 1 4 5 2 16 6 4 0 2 36
42 THEODORIS, Mariota.. 1-1 0-0 2-2 1 2 3 2 4 0 2 0 0 9
55 RICHMAN, Rebecca.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 5
TEAM................ 2 2 4
Totals.............. 29-63 6-17 6-11 14 19 33 14 70 26 14 1 11 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-34 35.3% 2nd Half: 17-29 58.6% Game: 46.0% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-11 27.3% 2nd Half: 3-6 50.0% Game: 35.3% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 4-6 66.7% 2nd Half: 2-5 40.0% Game: 54.5% 2
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Officials: Jerome Skrine, Kathy Lonergan, John Riordan
Technical fouls: West Virginia-None. Rutgers-None.
Attendance: 5479
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
West Virginia................. 20 29 - 49
Rutgers....................... 31 39 - 70
ID-319794
Points in the paint-WVU 16,RUTGERS 34. Points off turnovers-WVU 10,RUTGERS 29.
2nd chance points-WVU 3,RUTGERS 11. Fast break points-WVU 5,RUTGERS 12.
Bench points-WVU 0,RUTGERS 28. Score tied-1 time. Lead changed-1 time.
Last FG-WVU 2nd-04:36, RUTGERS 2nd-00:03.
