No.7/7 RU Women Suffer First Loss, 67-57
Dec 14 | Women's Basketball
RU struggled to find any offensive flow in the first half as four Scarlet Knights picked up two fouls apiece in the first 20 minutes, and Rutgers entered the locker room trailing, 29-18. A 10-2 Ole Miss advantage in free-throw attempts, coupled with 14 RU turnovers, helped contribute to the Scarlet Knights’ largest halftime deficit of the season.
But, midway through the second stanza, it appeared that Rutgers was going to find a way to overcome the double-digit lead it had spotted the Lady Rebels. Trailing 42-30 with 11:16 remaining in the game, Rutgers scored 10 of the next 12 points. Fifth-year senior Cappie Pondexter’s (Chicago, IL) steal led to an Essence Carson (Paterson, NJ) layup. Pondexter then rebounded a missed shot by Ole Miss and went coast-to-coast for the layup, followed by a strip on the very next Lady Rebel possession and another layup, making the score 43-36 with 9:08 remaining. Senior Michelle Campbell (Princeton, NJ) made both ends of a one-and-one (43-38, 8:28), and sophomore Matee Ajavon (Newark, NJ) weaved through traffic in the lane, getting to the rim to pull Rutgers within four (44-40) at the 7:44 mark.
The Scarlet Knights got as close as three (45-42, 6:58) on a Kia Vaughn (Bronx, NY) layup, but Ole Miss answered with a pair of free throws and a putback to again push the lead to seven (49-42, 4:58).
Pondexter split two defenders on the low block and banked in a shot to cut the Ole Miss lead to 52-49 with 3:25 remaining on the clock, and her free throw with 2:31 to play made it a four-point game (54-50), but back-to-back Rutgers turnovers on its next two possessions made it a 10-point bulge (60-50) in the final 90 seconds.
Pondexter led Rutgers with 16 points, while Ajavon added 11 points and team highs of seven assists and three steals. Vaughn posted seven rebounds, followed by Carson and Mariota Theodoris (Riviera Beach, FL) with six apiece.
Rutgers was whistled for 29 fouls (compared to 16 for Ole Miss), and the Lady Rebels held a 37-15 advantage in free-throw attempts. Two Scarlet Knights fouled out of the contest, while three others finished with four each.
Rutgers held Ole Miss to a 19-for-53 (.358) shooting effort, but RU also made just three of 17 (.176) three-point attempts.
The contest at Ole Miss ended a demanding, and exhausting, pre-Christmas schedule for the Scarlet Knights. RU played seven of its first nine games on the road, including six games in five locations (Iowa City, Providence, Piscataway, Princeton and Oxford) in the last 12 days.
The Scarlet Knights will take a break from regular-season competition, hosting St. Thomas Aquinas College in an exhibition contest Sunday, Dec. 18, at 2:00 p.m. Live statistics will be available via www.scarletknights.com.
Official Basketball Box Score
RUTGERS vs Ole Miss Lady Rebels
12-14-05 7 p.m. at Oxford, Miss.
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VISITORS: RUTGERS 8-1
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 1-1 0-0 4-4 1 2 3 4 6 0 0 0 0 17
40 THRASH, Sammeika.... f 1-2 0-0 2-3 0 0 0 4 4 0 4 2 1 28
05 CARSON, Essence..... g 3-8 0-1 0-0 0 6 6 5 6 0 4 0 1 38
12 ADAMS, Katie........ g 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
25 PONDEXTER, Cappie... g 6-15 1-6 3-4 0 4 4 4 16 1 4 0 2 32
03 LOCKE, Courtney..... 1-1 1-1 0-0 1 0 1 1 3 0 2 0 1 10
15 VAUGHN, Kia......... 3-4 0-0 0-0 3 4 7 3 6 0 1 3 0 12
20 REED, Tudy.......... 0-2 0-2 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 4
21 ZURICH, Heather..... 1-3 1-3 0-0 1 0 1 1 3 0 1 0 0 6
22 AJAVON, Matee....... 5-13 0-3 1-4 0 1 1 5 11 7 5 0 3 35
42 THEODORIS, Mariota.. 1-1 0-0 0-0 3 3 6 1 2 0 0 0 0 16
TEAM................ 1 4 5 2
Totals.............. 22-51 3-17 10-15 10 25 35 29 57 8 23 5 9 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 7-20 35.0% 2nd Half: 15-31 48.4% Game: 43.1% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-10 20.0% 2nd Half: 1-7 14.3% Game: 17.6% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 2-3 66.7% 2nd Half: 8-12 66.7% Game: 66.7% 1
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HOME TEAM: Ole Miss Lady Rebels 7-1
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
24 Armintie Price...... f 6-12 0-0 10-14 4 4 8 1 22 2 0 0 5 38
34 Jada Mincy.......... f 0-1 0-0 0-0 5 1 6 1 0 1 2 0 1 27
40 Danetra Forrest..... f 1-6 0-0 0-1 2 2 4 3 2 0 2 0 0 17
03 Ashley Awkward...... g 3-6 1-1 6-10 1 4 5 3 13 2 3 0 2 33
20 Ashley Johnson...... g 6-14 3-7 7-8 1 2 3 2 22 1 3 0 2 38
02 Lindsay Roy......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0+
10 Carla Bartee........ 2-8 1-4 0-2 0 5 5 3 5 0 3 1 3 19
14 LaTanya Jones....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 4
22 Tasi Worsham........ 1-4 0-1 1-2 1 0 1 0 3 0 0 0 0 7
32 Ellen Buchanan...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 3
35 Shawn Goff.......... 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 1 0 1 2 0 0 14
TEAM................ 5 2 7
Totals.............. 19-53 5-13 24-37 19 22 41 16 67 7 17 1 13 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-26 38.5% 2nd Half: 9-27 33.3% Game: 35.8% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-8 37.5% 2nd Half: 2-5 40.0% Game: 38.5% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 6-10 60.0% 2nd Half: 18-27 66.7% Game: 64.9% 3,1
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Officials: John Yarbrough, Lawson Newton, Nanette Sisk
Technical fouls: RUTGERS-THEODORIS, Mariota. Ole Miss Lady Rebels-None.
Attendance: 2247
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
RUTGERS....................... 18 39 - 57
Ole Miss Lady Rebels.......... 29 38 - 67
