Rutgers Defeats Temple to Advance to Sweet Sixteen, 61-54
Mar 22 | Women's Basketball
Rutgers will play No. 8/7 Ohio State in the Philadelphia Regional semifinals Sunday, March 27, at Temple's Liacouras Center. Tipoff is scheduled for approximately 2:30 p.m. on ESPN2. For tickets, contact the Rutgers Athletic Ticket Office at 866-445-GORU or log on to ticketmaster.com.
The third-seeded Scarlet Knights trailed 5-4 less than three minutes into the contest, but put together a 14-4 run over the next 7:44 to take an 18-9 lead, and RU took a 30-24 advantage into the locker room. Rutgers held the Owls without a field goal for the first 5:33 of the second half, building a commanding 17-point advantage (47-30, 12:40). The Scarlet Knights made just one field goal in the game's final 12:40, but RU made 13 of 16 (.813) free throws down the stretch to secure the victory.
Senior Cappie Pondexter (Chicago, IL) pumped in a game-high 25 points on 7-for-14 (.500) shooting, including a 3-for-3 (1.000) effort from three-point range. She also made eight of 10 (.800) free throws and chipped in six rebounds, five assists and five steals. Classmate Chelsea Newton (Monroe, LA) added 11 tallies, and junior Michelle Campbell (Princeton, NJ) collected a team-best seven rebounds.
The win ended Temple's 25-game winning streak, and advanced RU to its first Sweet Sixteen since 2000, when Rutgers played in the Final Four in Philadelphia. The victory also avenged a 71-60 regular-season loss the Scarlet Knights suffered at Temple Dec. 13.
Rutgers shot 20-for-27 (.741) from the free-throw line compared to Temple's 12-for-15 (.800) effort. The numbers were in stark contrast to the regular-season meeting, when the Owls attempted 29 shots more from the charity stripe than RU (41-12).
Fans wishing to order tickets for the NCAA Women's Basketball Regional at the Liacouras Center in Philadelphia, PA can come to the Rutgers Ticket Office or call 1-866-445-GORU on Wednesday, March 23rd, 8:30am-4:30pm. Tickets will be available for pickup on Friday at the Athletic Center Ticket Office or on Sunday at the arena. Season ticket holders and Scarlet R donors will be given first priority. A two-day ticket package that would include Sunday's doubleheader and Tuesday's game (ONLY if Rutgers advances) are $50. Single session tickets for Sunday's doubleheader may be purchased for $30. Fans can also buy online at ticketmaster.com or by calling 1-215-336-2000.
Official Basketball Box Score
TEMPLE vs Rutgers
3/22/05 9:30pm at Harry A. Gampel Pavilion, Storrs CT
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VISITORS: TEMPLE 28-4
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
21 HAIRSTON, Kamesha... f 2-7 0-1 3-3 0 3 3 4 7 0 1 0 2 27
31 MOORE, Ari.......... f 4-8 2-3 3-4 1 6 7 5 13 1 4 0 1 36
04 DUPREE, Candice..... c 5-14 0-0 1-2 1 7 8 1 11 2 4 4 0 39
01 JORDAN, Cynthia..... g 5-11 2-5 3-4 1 1 2 4 15 1 4 0 0 34
03 OWENS, Jennifer..... g 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 2 0 2 2 0 0 24
05 BOWENS, Khadija..... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 3 0 0 4 0 0 13
10 HICKS, Stephanie.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3
12 MORRIS, Ashley...... 2-5 0-3 2-2 1 0 1 3 6 0 0 0 2 19
42 COMFORT, Lady....... 1-1 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 5
TEAM................ 3 3
Totals.............. 19-48 4-13 12-15 5 20 25 23 54 6 19 4 5 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 9-22 40.9% 2nd Half: 10-26 38.5% Game: 39.6% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-2 50.0% 2nd Half: 3-11 27.3% Game: 30.8% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 5-8 62.5% 2nd Half: 7-7 100 % Game: 80.0% 3
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HOME TEAM: Rutgers 27-6
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 2-4 0-0 2-3 5 2 7 4 6 1 1 0 0 20
05 CARSON, Essence..... g 3-8 0-0 0-0 0 6 6 4 6 1 3 1 2 35
22 AJAVON, Matee....... g 1-5 0-1 3-4 0 1 1 1 5 4 4 0 2 23
25 PONDEXTER, Cappie... g 7-14 3-3 8-10 0 6 6 1 25 5 3 0 5 38
32 NEWTON, Chelsea..... g 3-7 0-0 5-6 2 4 6 3 11 1 3 1 2 36
13 JETT, Nikki......... 2-2 0-0 2-4 0 0 0 0 6 0 2 0 2 25
42 THEODORIS, Mariota.. 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 2 2 0 2 0 0 13
55 RICHMAN, Rebecca.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 2 0 0 1 0 0 10
TEAM................ 1 1 1
Totals.............. 19-41 3-4 20-27 7 24 31 17 61 12 20 2 13 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-19 63.2% 2nd Half: 7-22 31.8% Game: 46.3% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-3 66.7% 2nd Half: 1-1 100 % Game: 75.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 4-6 66.7% 2nd Half: 16-21 76.2% Game: 74.1% 2
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Officials: Nan Sisk, Chuck Gonzalez, Barry Roberts
Technical fouls: TEMPLE-None. Rutgers-None.
Attendance: 6809
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
TEMPLE........................ 24 30 - 54
Rutgers....................... 30 31 - 61
2005 NCAA Women's Basketball Championship
#3 seed Rutgers versus #6 Temple
Rutgers advances to play Maryland - Ohio State winner in Regional Semifinals
on Sunday, March 27th in Philadelphia, Pa.
Points in the paint-TEMPLE 12,RUTGERS 16. Points off turnovers-TEMPLE 25,RUTGERS 10.
2nd chance points-TEMPLE 10,RUTGERS 9. Fast break points-TEMPLE 6,RUTGERS 6.
Bench points-TEMPLE 8,RUTGERS 8. Score tied-0 times. Lead changed-5 times.
Last FG-TEMPLE 2nd-00:10, RUTGERS 2nd-03:54.
