Rutgers Wins Triple-Overtime Thriller Over Ole Miss
Dec 13 | Women's Basketball
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - The Rutgers women's basketball team (4-4, 0-1 BIG EAST) won its first-ever triple-overtime game over the University of Mississippi (7-3, 0-0 SEC), 89-84, on Tuesday night at the Louis Brown Athletic Center (RAC).
Freshman Brittany Ray (Bronx, N.Y.) led the team with a career-high 23 points and classmate Epiphanny Prince (Brooklyn, N.Y.) scored 22 points and had 10 rebounds, her first career double-double. Sophomore center Kia Vaughn (Bronx, N.Y.) just missed a triple-double, registering 10 points, 13 rebounds and nine blocks.
Freshman Rashidat Junaid (Atco, N.J.) tallied a career-best 14 points off the bench, including six points in the third-overtime period. Junior guard Essence Carson (Paterson, N.J.) also scored in double figures, adding 10 points.
Trailing 8-6 in the early going, the Scarlet Knights scored the game's next six points to push ahead, 12-8 following a turnaround in the lane from Junaid with 11:37 showing in the first half. The teams traded baskets, or at least Ole Miss guard Armintie Price, exchanged field goals with the Scarlet Knights over the next few possessions. Price narrowed the gap to 16-14 on a lay-up with 8:35 left in the half.
Rutgers put together a 10-2 run, capped by a 3-pointers by Ray, over the next two minutes to take a 26-16 advantage with 6:28 remaining in the stanza. The Lady Rebels cut the lead to four (26-22) when Rutgers went cold from the floor for three and a half minutes. Vaughn ended the scoring drought on a lay-up to stretch the lead back to six.
The highlight of the half, however, belonged to junior Matee Ajavon (Newark, N.J.). The junior playmaker delivered a behind-the-back pass to Junaid who caught and converted. Ajavon followed that play with a steal and a jumper from Prince just before the halftime horn gave RU a 33-22 lead at intermission. Price had 14 of Ole Miss' 22 first-half points.
With an 11-point halftime lead, the Scarlet Knights would reel off the first nine points of the second half. A baseline field goal from Vaughn capped off the spurt and put the home team ahead, 42-22 with 16:07 remaining in the game.
The Lady Rebels, however, did not go away, scoring the next 10 straight points off of six-straight Scarlet Knight turnovers. In total, Ole Miss compiled a 26-5 total scoring run to pull to a point, 48-47 on a lay-up from Alliesha Easley with 7:26 to play. On their next possession, the Scarlet Knights re-gained a three-point lead when Vaughn grabbed an offensive rebound and connected on the put-back.
With 1:46 to play, Ray hit a jumper from the right wing to give the Scarlet Knights a seven-point lead. The Lady Rebels responded, rattling off seven-straight points highlighted by two triples to even the score and send the contest to overtime.
The Scarlet Knights entered overtime without the services of Carson and Ajavon, who both fouled out in regulation. In the first overtime period, Ashley Awkward hit Price for a lay-up to give the Lady Rebels a two-point lead just four seconds into the third stanza. Ray, answered for Rutgers with a turnaround jump shot in the paint. The two teams traded baskets mid-way through the overtime, but Prince gave the Scarlet Knights a 69-67 lead with 1:40 remaining. A lay-up from Shawn Goff tied the game with 1:30 remaining, sending the game into another overtime period with the score notched at 69.
To open the second overtime, Ray hit a triple, her third of the game, giving Rutgers an early lead (72-69). After Ole Miss tied the game at 74 with 1:48 remaining, the Scarlet Knights got a free throw each from Ray and Zurich and a runner from Prince to push ahead by four (78-74). Ole Miss, however, would not go away. Price put the Lady Rebels to within three and teammate Easley tied the game with a trey with 8.4 seconds showing. Prince missed a jumper with three seconds left and Heather Zurich (Montvale, N.J.) came up with the offensive rebound, but couldn't connect on the put-back, forcing the overtime.
Junaid broke out in the decisive third overtime, scoring six points and adding three rebounds. Tied at 80, a jumper from Ray on the right wing followed by a lay-up off the glass from Junaid pushed the home team out ahead by four, a lead RU would not relinquish.
POSTGAME NOTES
A FIRST IN SCARLET KNIGHT HISTORY'?
Rutgers' 89-84 triple-overtime win over Ole Miss was the first triple-overtime in team history and marked the first overtime win of the season for the Scarlet Knights. The Scarlet Knights have played in 27 overtime games during their history and now hold a 17-10 (.630) record in those contests.
RU SETS RECORDS
The Scarlet Knights' 17 blocked shots was a single-game record for the team, surpassing the previous mark of 15 blocks in an 82-57 defeat of West Virginia on Jan. 3, 1987.
Freshman guard Epiphanny Prince set a Rutgers' single-game record for minutes played with 51 and easily surpassed her previous career-high of 37 minutes. Prince also recorded the first double-double of her collegiate career with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Her rebound total also doubled her previous career-high of five, set against Georgia on Nov. 12.
DOUBLE-DIGIT FIGURES
Five Scarlet Knight players scored in double-digits against the Rebels:
Points Minutes
Kia Vaughn 11 48
Essence Carson 10 37
Epiphanny Prince 22 51
Brittany Ray 23 49
Rashidat Junaid 14 17
DOMINATING THE BOARDS
The Scarlet Knights' 54 rebounds easily surpassed the team's previous season-high of 39 against DePaul on Dec. 7.
Sophomore forward Heather Zurich's six rebounds were a career-high, topping her previous career-mark of three, set against Old Dominion on Dec. 9, 2005.
VAUGHN EXTENDS STREAK
Kia Vaughn recorded her fifth double-digit performance of the season, and the eighth of her career, with 11 points and 13 rebounds. Vaughn has now recorded a double-double in three-straight games and has reached double figures in rebounds in six consecutive games. Vaughn's nine blocks left her just one shy of a triple-double.
"RAC"-ING UP THE MINUTES
With the three overtime periods, four Scarlet Knight players set career-highs in minutes played.
New Career-High Previous Career-High
Kia Vaughn 48 39
Epiphanny Prince 51 37
Brittany Ray 49 34
Heather Zurich 27 26
OTHER CAREER HIGHS
Ray set a career-high in points with 23 against Ole Miss, eclipsing her prior mark of 20, which the freshman guard scored against Florida on Nov. 28 of this season.
Freshman center Rashidat Junaid came off the bench to score 14 points in 17 minutes of play to surpass her previous career-mark of six, which she scored against Florida on Nov. 18. Junaid was a perfect 4-of-4 from the field in the first half.
With nine blocked shots, Vaughn set a career-high, surpassing her previous mark of seven, which she had reached twice.
THIS AND THAT
Rutgers largest lead of the game was 20, matching the team's season-high, as the Scarlet Knights also led by 20 against Florida on Nov. 18.
