Big Second Half Lifts #9 Rutgers Past Pittsburgh, 63-42
Feb 25 | Women's Basketball
PITTSBURGH, PA – Junior Michelle Campbell (Princeton, NJ) notched her sixth career double-double to lead the No. 9/9 Rutgers women’s basketball team (22-5, 13-2 BIG EAST) to a 63-42 victory at Pittsburgh (12-14, 4-11 BIG EAST) Feb. 25.
Rutgers got off to a sluggish start, and trailed 18-15 at halftime. The Panthers clung to a 23-22 advantage with 15:22 to play, but Rutgers finally got on track and put together a 14-1 run, started by a Matee Ajavon (Newark, NJ) strip and layup, a Campbell layin, and two Chelsea Newton (Monroe, LA) free throws after a technical foul was assessed to the Pittsburgh bench. Campbell had two more baskets, Ajavon nailed a pair of free throws and Newton converted a steal into a layup, pushing the Scarlet Knights ahead 36-24 with 11:48 remaining in the game. That lead dipped below 10 just once for the remainder of the game (36-28, 10:29), but Rutgers immediately responded with a 9-2 spurt, and steadily built its lead during the game’s final 10 minutes.
After making just 21.9 (7-32) percent of its attempts in the first half, Rutgers responded with a 55.2 (16-29) percent effort in the second half. The Scarlet Knights also made 16 of 22 (.727) free throws, compared to Pittsburgh’s 9-for-24 (.375) shooting from the charity stripe, and RU had 13 fewer turnovers (26-13) than the Panthers.
Campbell posted game highs of 17 points and 11 rebounds. Ajavon and Newton each tallied 14 points for the Scarlet Knights.
The win pushed Rutgers into sole possession of first place in the BIG EAST standings (13-2), a half-game ahead of Connecticut (12-2). The Huskies will play at Boston College Feb. 26. Both teams will play their final regular-season games March 1. Should the Scarlet Knights end the regular season tied with Connecticut, RU would own the tiebreaker for the top seed in the upcoming BIG EAST Tournament.
Rutgers will finish the regular season Tuesday, March 1, at Villanova. The game will be shown on CSTV and will be carried live on WCTC 1450 AM and WRSU 88.7 FM. A live stream of the radio broadcast, as well as live statistics, will be available via www.scarletknights.com.
Official Basketball Box Score
Rutgers vs Pittsburgh
2/25/05 7:00 PM at Petersen Events Center, Pittsburgh, PA
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VISITORS: Rutgers (22-5, 13-2)
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 7-13 0-0 3-6 6 5 11 3 17 1 0 1 1 36
55 RICHMAN, Rebecca.... c 0-0 0-0 2-2 0 0 0 3 2 0 0 0 0 8
22 AJAVON, Matee....... g 5-17 0-2 4-6 2 1 3 3 14 4 5 1 3 34
25 PONDEXTER, Cappie... g 3-6 1-2 2-2 0 5 5 0 9 6 3 1 1 26
32 NEWTON, Chelsea..... g 6-12 0-3 2-2 3 2 5 4 14 2 2 1 3 31
03 LOCKE, Courtney..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 3
05 CARSON, Essence..... 1-4 0-0 3-4 2 2 4 4 5 0 0 2 1 34
12 ADAMS, Katie........ 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5
13 JETT, Nikki......... 0-4 0-3 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 3 1 0 1 13
20 REED, Tudy.......... 1-3 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 3 2 1 1 0 0 8
52 CAHOE, Aquisha...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
TEAM................ 1 8 9 1
Totals.............. 23-61 1-10 16-22 14 25 39 23 63 17 13 6 10 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 7-32 21.9% 2nd Half: 16-29 55.2% Game: 37.7% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 0-5 0.0% 2nd Half: 1-5 20.0% Game: 10.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 1-2 50.0% 2nd Half: 15-20 75.0% Game: 72.7% 2
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HOME TEAM: Pittsburgh (12-14, 4-11)
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
55 MORRIS, Allisha..... f 1-8 0-3 2-6 1 1 2 2 4 2 9 1 1 33
45 WALKER, Mercedes.... c 2-4 0-0 2-4 1 9 10 2 6 0 1 0 0 26
11 LIM, Karlyle........ g 2-3 0-0 2-2 0 7 7 0 6 4 4 0 0 29
22 KUNICH, Amy......... g 5-12 3-6 2-4 0 2 2 3 15 1 4 0 1 40
23 ALLEN, Jessica...... g 0-2 0-2 0-1 0 4 4 1 0 0 3 0 1 22
03 BROWN, Jennifer..... 4-4 0-0 1-7 2 4 6 4 9 1 3 0 2 34
14 SHOLOKHOVA, Vika.... 1-5 0-1 0-0 2 1 3 4 2 1 2 1 0 16
TEAM................ 1
Totals.............. 15-38 3-12 9-24 6 28 34 17 42 9 26 2 5 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 7-20 35.0% 2nd Half: 8-18 44.4% Game: 39.5% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-8 25.0% 2nd Half: 1-4 25.0% Game: 25.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 2-7 28.6% 2nd Half: 7-17 41.2% Game: 37.5% 7
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Officials: Bonita Spence (R), Jo Smith, Denise Brooks-Clauser
Technical fouls: Rutgers-None. Pittsburgh-TEAM.
Attendance: 945
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Rutgers....................... 15 48 - 63
Pittsburgh.................... 18 24 - 42
Points in the paint-RUTGERS 30,PITT 20. Points off turnovers-RUTGERS 23,PITT 7.
2nd chance points-RUTGERS 8,PITT 6. Fast break points-RUTGERS 14,PITT 2.
Bench points-RUTGERS 7,PITT 11. Score tied-1 time. Lead changed-6 times.
Last FG-RUTGERS 2nd-00:28, PITT 2nd-01:15.
