PISCATAWAY, N.J. - The Rutgers women's basketball team posted its third win of the season, and its first at home, defeating in-state rival Princeton, 76-51, on Saturday night at the Louis Brown Athletic Center (RAC).
Sophomore center
Kia Vaughn (Bronx, N.J.) scored a career-high 27 points on 12-of-16 shooting and also pulled down 10 rebounds to record her fourth double-double in seven games this season. Freshman guard
Epiphanny Prince (Brooklyn, N.Y.), who made her first career start against the Tigers, scored 19 points, the seventh time in as many games she has scored in double figures. Junior guard
Matee Ajavon (Newark, N.J.) added 14 points and also tied a game-high six assists, while junior guard
Essence Carson (Paterson, N.J.) also dished out six assists and pulled down seven rebounds.
Rutgersposted a season-high 14 steals in the game with Ajavon notching four and Vaughn, Carson and Prince adding three each. The Scarlet Knights scored 26 points off the Tigers' 23 turnovers and also out-scored
Princeton, 38-14 in the paint.
The Scarlet Knights built a 37-26 halftime lead, due in large part to a 13-point scoring effort from Vaughn. Trailing 7-6 in the early going, Rutgers went on a 13-2 run over a five-minute span to take an 11-point lead (19-8). During the run, Vaughn scored six points, while Ajavon chipped in four points. With 12:07 to play, Ajavon stripped the Tigers' Shelly Slemp at mid-court and was fouled on the lay-up, converting both free throws.
At the 5:13 mark, sophomore guard
Heather Zurich (Montvale, N.J.) nailed a three-pointer from the right wing, giving the Scarlet Knights a 17-point lead. After Prince found
Katie Adams (Ogden, Utah) for a triple at the 3:19 mark, freshman guard
Myia McCurdy (Cincinnati, Ohio) gave
Rutgers an 18-point lead, its largest of the half, hitting the front end of a one-and-one.
Princeton closed out the half with a seven-point run to cut the advantage to 11 at the break.
Vaughn wasted no time putting points on the board in the second half, converting a lay-up off an Ajavon assist less than a minute in. Following an Ajavon jumper at the 18:31 mark,
Princeton went on a 10-2 run to cut the Scarlet Knights' lead to 43-37 with 13:53 to play.
Coming out of a timeout, Vaughn scored six-straight points, first hitting a lay-up off an assist from
Carson and capping it off with another lay-in in the paint. On back-to-back
Princeton possessions, Ali Prichard hit consecutive treys to push the Tigers to within nine points, 43-34, with 10:13 remaining in the game.
Rutgersresponded with a nine-point run, including a Prince three-pointer from the left wing and a lay-up from Vaughn. With 5:33 to play, Prince registered her third swipe of the game, passing the ball ahead to
Carson.
Carson hit Prince on the give-and-go fast break as the Scarlet Knights capitalized on the
Princeton turnover.
Prince scored on Rutgers' next two possessions, first driving baseline and completing the old-fashioned three-point play, before hitting a lay-up on the Scarlet Knights' next trip down the floor. With 2:04, Prince hit another three from the left-wing to help seal the win.
The Scarlet Knights will host Ole Miss on Tuesday, Dec. 12, at 7:30 p.m. at the Louis Brown Athletic Center (RAC).
POSTGAME NOTES
WITH THE WIN'?
With the 76-51 defeat of Princeton, Rutgers improves to 3-4 on the season and recorded the first home win of the 2006-07 campaign. The Scarlet Knights are now 11-1 all-time against the Tigers, and have won 10-straight matchups against their in-state rival.
A "KNIGHT" OF FIRSTS
Freshman guard Epiphanny Prince made her first collegiate start against the Tigers, while junior guard Matee Ajavon made her first start since March 26, 2006, when she was in the starting lineup against Tennessee in the Sweet Sixteen round of the NCAA Tournament.
Princescored 19 points against Princeton, marking the seventh-straight game this season she has scored in double figures. Prince, the only Scarlet Knight player to register double figures in each of the team's seven games this season, also added five assists and three steals in 35 minutes of play.
Ajavon, playing in just her third game of the season since returning from injury, scored 14 points and has scored in double figures in each of her three games this season.
CAREER NIGHT FOR VAUGHN
Sophomore center Kia Vaughn scored a career-high 27 points, eclipsing her previous mark of 17, which she set earlier in the season against Florida on Nov. 18. Vaughn also pulled-down 10 rebounds en route to recording her fourth double-double of the season and the seventh of her career.
SEASON-HIGHS
The 11-point halftime lead over the Tigers was RU's largest first-half lead of the season, topping the team's previous high of three (vs. Pepperdine, Nov. 17), and the final 25-point margin of victory was also the highest of the season, surpassing RU's 17-point win over Florida on Nov. 18.
The Scarlet Knights recorded a season-high 14 steals, surpassing the team's previous high of nine against Pepperdine on Nov. 17. Rutgers had nine steals in the first half alone, and added five more in the second.
The 18 assists by Rutgers were also a season-high, topping the team's previous record of 15, set against DePaul on Dec. 7.
Freshman Brittany Ray set a career-high in rebounds with four against the Tigers, eclipsing her previous mark of three, which she recorded against DePaul on Dec. 7.
DEFENSIVE PRESSURE
The Rutgers defense forced Princeton to commit 23 turnovers, the highest total by an RU opponent this season since Penn State committed 21 turnovers on Nov. 24.
KEEPING PRINCETON OFF THE BOARDS
The Scarlet Knight defense allowed Princeton to grab just 26 rebounds, the lowest rebounding total by an RU opponent this season since Florida pulled down 30 against RU on Nov. 18.
