Rutgers' Win Streak Snapped at Louisville, 53-50
Jan 21 | Women's Basketball
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Rutgers saw its five-game win streak come to a close, falling 53-50 to Louisville in BIG EAST women's basketball action on Sunday evening at Freedom Hall.
Junior Essence Carson (Paterson, N.J.) was the lone Scarlet Knight in double-figures, registering 14 points. Sophomore Kia Vaughn (Bronx, N.Y.) corralled 14 rebounds, her 10th double-digit rebounding effort of the season.
Louisville forward Angel McCoughtry led all scorers with 20 points and 16 rebounds. Senior Jazz Covington addedc 13 points for the Cardinals (18-2, 4-2 BIG EAST),
Rutgers (10-6, 5-2 BIG EAST) opened the second half, hitting five of its first eight shots and erupting for the first 14 points of the stanza. Carson scored eight during the run, commencing the spurt with a long jumper. The junior closed the 19-0 run, stretching over two halves, with a runner in the paint with 13:39 remaining as Rutgers lead ballooned to 38-22.
The Cardinals, who missed their first nine attempts, got on the board 7:42 into the second half on a three-pointer from Patrika Barlow. Louisville would drain its next three shots from the field, capped by a triple from Angel McCoughtry which pulled the home team to within six, 38-32 with 10:13 to play.
McCoughtry added another three-pointer two minutes later to cut the lead to four (40-36) before Prince converted a pair from the free throw line to push the advantage back to six points. Vaughn followed with a tough lay-up in the paint and freshman Dee Dee Jernigan calmly nailed a triple from the top of the key to give Rutgers a 47-39 lead with 5:14 showing.
The cat and mouse race to the finish began as the Cardinals closed the gap. Covington scored five of the team's next six points with her lay-up cutting the lead to 47-45 with 3:23 on the clock.
McCoughtry tied the contest at 47-47 with two from the stripe and helped the Cardinals take the lead with a three-pointer with 2:31 showing.
Ajavon hit the first of two of a one-in-one to pull the visitors to 50-48 with 1:35 remaining. A tied up jump ball gave possession back to the Scarlet Knights. Ajavon knotted the contest at 50-50 with a pull-up four-foot jumper with 56.8 seconds on the clock.
Covington, who scored nine of her 13 points in the second half, gave the Cardinals the lead for good with a lay-in with 33 seconds remaining.
Following a timeout with 26.8 seconds on the clock, Rutgers had two looks at the basket. Prince attempted a driving lay-up as the offensive put-back belonged to Vaughn. Ajavon's three-point attempt with 5.7 seconds bounced off the front of the rim.
Louisville sealed the victory as McCoughtry hit the first of two from the free throw line and Covington grabbed the rebound off the miss of the second attempt.
Rutgers led 24-22 at the break, following a first half in which neither team led by more than three points. The Scarlet Knights ended the half with a 5-0 run, all the points coming from sophomore Heather Zurich.
Rutgers steps out of BIG EAST play, traveling to Temple on Wednesday, January 24 for a 7:00 p.m. match-up.
