Rutgers Rolls Past No. 21/22 Notre Dame, 69-43
Jan 24 | Women's Basketball
PISCATAWAY, NJ - Sophomore guard Matee Ajavon (Newark, NJ) scored a season-high 28 points as No. 10/9 Rutgers (14-3, 6-0 BIG EAST) held No. 21/21 Notre Dame (12-6, 3-4 BIG EAST) to one point over the game's first 11 minutes in a 69-43 victory Tuesday night at the Louis Brown Athletic Center.
Cappie Pondexter (Chicago, IL), the BIG EAST's second-leading scorer at 22 points per game, had 20 for Rutgers, including 14 in the second half when she and Ajavon led a 32-6 run that put away the Fighting Irish. Notre Dame had clawed back from a 20-1 deficit to trail by only eight points at halftime (26-18).
Notre Dame made it 28-24 early in the second half on a three-pointer by Breona Gray before Ajavon and Pondexter combined for 23 of Rutgers' 32 points over the next eight minutes. Ajavon was one point off her career high, set last season in her second collegiate game against South Dakota State.
Rutgers' suffocating defensive pressure forced 22 turnovers that led to 35 points. The Scarlet Knights also held a 26-14 advantage in points in the paint, holding the front line of Crystal Erwin and Courtney LaVere to a combined three points.
After Erwin's free throw 18 seconds into the game, Notre Dame didn't score again until Duffy hit a 3-pointer with 8:42 left. Rutgers rattled off 20 straight points, and forced seven turnovers during that span. Ajavon got the Scarlet Knights going with consecutive three-pointers. Two jumpers by Michelle Campbell (Princeton, NJ) gave them a 14-1 lead, and six straight points by Pondexter made it 20-1 with 9:26 left.
In addition to the 48 combined points from Pondexter and Ajavon, Campbell chipped in with 10 points and seven rebounds. Essence Carson (Paterson, NJ) had four points, five rebounds, four assists and a blocked shot that triggered a fast break resulting in two free throws by Pondexter.
Rutgers returns to action on Saturday, Jan. 28, when it travels to Washington, DC, to face Georgetown at 3:00 p.m.
GAME NOTES
WITH THIS WIN…
Tonight’s 69-43 victory against Notre Dame is the Scarlet Knights 14th consecutive BIG EAST Conference victory, dating back to last season. Rutgers’ last conference loss came on February 3, 2005, against Connecticut.
BORN TO RUN
The Scarlet Knights put together a series of impressive runs in their 69-43 defeat of Notre Dame on Tuesday night. After a made free throw by the Irish’s Crystal Erwin, Rutgers went on a 20-0 run which began at the 17:11 mark and ended with 9:27 remaining in the half. During this stretch, Notre Dame shot 0-for-9 on 15 possessions and committed nine turnovers.
At the 16:24 mark in the second half with RU’s lead cut to four (28-24), the Scarlet Knights embarked on a stretch in which they scored 32 of the next 38 points over eight minutes, as Cappie Pondexter and Matee Ajavon combined to score 23 of those 32 points.
PONDEXTER POST DOUBLE-DIGIT SCORING PERFORMANCE
With her 20 points against Notre Dame, senior All-American guard Cappie Pondexter has scored 10 or more points in 23 consecutive games dating back to last season. It also marks the 11th time this season that Pondexter has scored 20 points or more.
AJAVON TOPS 20-POINT MARK
Sophomore guard Matee Ajavon scored a season-high 28 points against Notre Dame on Tuesday night. It was her first 20 point game of the season and seventh of her career. In addition, Ajavon has scored in double figures in eight of the last nine games and 12 times this season.
SCARLET KNIGHTS RECORD TWO 20-POINT SCORERS
In Tuesday’s 69-43 win over Notre Dame, Rutgers had two 20-point scorers (Matee Ajavon 28, Cappie Pondexter 20) for the first time since Jan. 31, 2004, when Pondexter scored 25 and former standout Chelsea Newton had 21 in a 76-69 win against Miami.
RUTGERS CONTROLS FRONTCOURT
In the 69-43 win, the Scarlet Knights held Notre Dame’s frontcourt starters Crystal Erwin and Courtney LaVere to just three points for the game on a combined 1-for-7 shooting. The two came into tonight’s game averaging 14 points per game combined.
Official Basketball Box Score
Notre Dame vs Rutgers
01/24/06 7:30 p.m. at Louis Brown Athletic Ctr; Piscataway, NJ
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VISITORS: Notre Dame 12-6, 3-4
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
34 ERWIN, Crystal...... f 0-2 0-0 1-2 0 4 4 3 1 1 2 1 0 15
41 LaVERE, Courtney.... f 1-5 0-0 0-0 2 2 4 2 2 0 0 1 0 23
01 GAINES, Tulyah...... g 1-3 0-0 3-6 1 1 2 3 5 0 8 0 0 30
13 DUFFY, Megan........ g 2-8 2-5 4-4 0 2 2 1 10 3 2 0 1 36
32 GRAY, Breona........ g 3-4 2-3 0-0 1 2 3 0 8 0 2 0 0 21
02 ALLEN, Charel....... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 2 1 1 9
11 TSIPIS, Amanda...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
21 SMITH, Chandrica.... 3-7 0-0 3-5 3 7 10 2 9 0 0 0 1 24
24 SCHRADER, Lindsay... 4-11 0-2 0-1 3 2 5 3 8 2 4 0 1 28
33 D'AMICO, Melissa.... 0-3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 2 1 13
TEAM................ 2 5 7 1
Totals.............. 14-44 4-10 11-18 12 26 38 16 43 6 22 5 5 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 6-22 27.3% 2nd Half: 8-22 36.4% Game: 31.8% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-5 20.0% 2nd Half: 3-5 60.0% Game: 40.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 5-6 83.3% 2nd Half: 6-12 50.0% Game: 61.1% 2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOME TEAM: Rutgers 14-3, 6-0
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 4-10 0-0 2-2 2 5 7 3 10 0 0 2 0 33
42 THEODORIS, Mariota.. f 0-3 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 3 0 1 1 0 0 22
05 CARSON, Essence..... g 2-6 0-0 0-0 1 4 5 1 4 4 2 1 1 34
22 AJAVON, Matee....... g 11-18 5-7 1-1 0 1 1 4 28 4 3 0 3 35
25 PONDEXTER, Cappie... g 6-10 1-2 7-8 1 5 6 2 20 3 1 0 4 37
03 LOCKE, Courtney..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 5
12 ADAMS, Katie........ 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 3
15 VAUGHN, Kia......... 1-3 0-0 1-5 0 2 2 0 3 0 1 2 1 15
20 REED, Tudy.......... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 2
21 ZURICH, Heather..... 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 2 2 1 1 0 0 5
40 THRASH, Sammeika.... 1-6 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 2 1 0 0 1 9
TEAM................ 4 3 7
Totals.............. 26-59 6-9 11-16 11 23 34 17 69 15 10 5 10 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 9-25 36.0% 2nd Half: 17-34 50.0% Game: 44.1% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-6 50.0% 2nd Half: 3-3 100 % Game: 66.7% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 5-8 62.5% 2nd Half: 6-8 75.0% Game: 68.8% 1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Officials: Dee Kantner, Tina Napier, Mark Zentz
Technical fouls: Notre Dame-ERWIN, Crystal. Rutgers-None.
Attendance: 3302
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Notre Dame.................... 18 25 - 43
Rutgers....................... 26 43 - 69
ID-386346
Points in the paint-ND 14,RUTGERS 26. Points off turnovers-ND 13,RUTGERS 35.
2nd chance points-ND 15,RUTGERS 5. Fast break points-ND 0,RUTGERS 16.
Bench points-ND 17,RUTGERS 7. Score tied-0 times. Lead changed-1 time.
Last FG-ND 2nd-00:54, RUTGERS 2nd-01:49.
Largest lead-ND by 1 1st-19:43, RUTGERS by 32 2nd-01:49.
