Fouth-Seeded Rutgers Stuns Top-Seed Duke, 53-52
Mar 24 | Women's Basketball
GREENSBORO, N.C. - Rutgers freshman Epiphanny Prince (Brooklyn, N.Y.) stole the ball and went coast-to-coast for the go-ahead score to lift the Scarlet Knights to a thrilling 53-52 victory over Duke in the Greensboro Regional semifinals.
ACC Player of the Year Lindsey Harding, a 75 percent free throw shooter, had an opportunity to win the game for the Blue Devils (32-1) but missed two from the free throw line with one-tenth of a second showing on the clock. Instead, Rutgers (25-8) is headed to its fifth Elite Eight - fourth under head coach C. Vivian Stringer.
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C. Vivian Stringer embraces Epiphanny Prince after the upset. |
Junior guard Matee Ajavon (Newark. N.J.) poured in a team-best 20 points for the Scarlet Knights who stretched their win streak to six games, the longest of the season.
"(This) team has believed all along that we are a team of destiny," Stringer said after the game. "All of the signs were there for us and we took that as all systems are go."
Duke led 52-48 entering the final minute of play before Ajavon commenced a Rutgers rally with a three-pointer with 48.5 seconds left. The Blue Devils found center Alison Bales, who missed a 10-foot jumper.
The rebound was grabbed by Duke forward Wanisha Smith who lost the ball to Prince, who went the length of the floor and hit a lay-up with a host of white jerseys around her for what would be the winning basket.
Duke brought the ball downcourt with Rutgers junior Essence Carson swiping the ball from Harding. With 5.6 seconds left, Harding stripped Carson's inbounds pass and drove up-court and fired a desperation shot only to be fouled. .Blue Devils fouled her with 5.6 seconds left before Harding came up with the steal on the subsequent inbounds pass.
"We kept saying, 'Believe.' No matter how much we were down by,' Carson said after the game. We understood that we hadn't gotten over the hump, but we couldn't tell ourselves that. We had to keep saying, 'Believe.' A lot of teams go wrong when they tell themselves they can't get over the hump. No. You have to tell yourself, 'Believe.'"
Duke held a 10-point lead early in the second half (28-18) on a three-pointer by Abby Waner. Rutgers clawed back, drawing to four as Ajavon ripped off six straight points in a 1:04 span. After the Blue Devils, behind Bales built the edge back to eight, Rutgers answered, moving to within three (34-31) on a lay-up by Ajavon with 13:46 left.
The Blue Devils would again stretch the lead - this time six - following a three-point play by Bales with 11:25 on the clock. Two straight RU lay-ups by Ajavon and Prince cut the lead to 39-37 and Vaughn tied the contest at 39-39 as Rutgers rallied each time the Blue Devils forced its hand.
ACC teams - men and women - were 18-1 in NCAA Tournament play at the Greensboro Coliseum prior to Rutgers remarkable victory, including a string of 15 straight. Ironically, the other team to hand an ACC team a loss on its 'home court' was Iowa (men) in 1980 over N.C. State. Stringer spent 12 seasons at Iowa prior to her tenure at Rutgers.
Carson added, "It's a sad way to go out for such a great team, but to emerge as one of the top teams in the country at the right time is very important and it speaks a lot to our character. But this is not over. We can't become complacent with this victory."
Rutgers faces third-seeded Arizona State on Monday, March 26 at 7:00 p.m. in the regional finals. The two teams were to have met in earlier this season in the Virgin Islands but the game was cancelled due to a personal tragedy on the Sun Devils team.
POSTGAME NOTES
WITH THE WIN'?
Rutgers improved to 27-17 in the NCAA Tournament (6-3 in the regional semifinal). Including tonight's victory, the Scarlet Knights have won four of six Sweet 16 match-ups and advanced to its third Elite 8 game, under the direction of head coach C. Vivian Stringer. The win gives Rutgers its first six-game win streak of the season. The 10-point rally for the win was the second-best of the season for Rutgers (vs. Florida, 11 points)
SCARLET KNIGHTS TAKE DOWN A GIANT
Rutgers' 53-52 win over No. 1 Duke marks the first time since Jan. 5, 2005 the Scarlet Knights defeated a team ranked first in both the AP and USA Today Poll. RU's last win over a top-ranked team was a 51-49 overtime victory against then-No.1 LSU at the Louis Brown Athletic Center (RAC). The win also marked the first time Rutgers has defeated a number one seed in the NCAA Tournament.
STINGY DEFENSE SETS NCAA TOURNAMENT RECORD
In the past three NCAA Tournament games, the Scarlet Knights have allowed only 133 points, the third-lowest three-game total in the event's 26-year history. Only LSU (127 in 2005) and Connecticut (131 in 2001) have been stingier.
WE HAVE REALLY IMPROVES
In six postseason games - a string that includes RU's only victories this season over teams in the top five, UConn and Duke - the Knights have permitted just 48.3 points an outing. Rutgers gave up 172 points to Duke and DePaul in consecutive games in early December. Those same teams have managed 107 this month against Rutgers.
RUTGERS DOES IT ON DEFENSE
The Scarlet Knights held No.1 Duke to its lowest first-half scoring output of the season in Saturday's game. The Blue Devils managed just 21 points in the opening half. Duke's previous low was 25 points, which ironically happened against Bowling Green (also in the Greensboro Regional) on Dec. 19, 2006.
The 52 points for the game was also Duke's lowest scoring output of the season.
In addition, the Scarlet Knights held two of Duke's three double-figure scorers to a combined 10 points. The Blue Devils' Abby Waner (14.3 ppg.) and Lindsey Harding (13.9 ppg.) scored just five points apiece against Rutgers.
RU POSTS DOUBLE-DIGIT STEALS
Rutgers forced first-ranked Duke into 16 turnovers and posted 12 steals in the 53-52 win. It was the 11th time this season the Scarlet Knights collected double-digit steals and fourth straight game.
SCARLET KNIGHTS EXPERIENCE TOUGH FIRST HALF
Rutgers scored 16 points on 24.1 percent shooting in the first half of its Sweet 16 match-up against Duke. It marked the Scarlet Knights' second-lowest shooting percentage for half this season (first vs. Duke on Dec 4, 20.7 %) and ties the fewest points in the first half since March. 6, 2006 against West Virginia in the BIG EAST Tournament semifinals.
AJAVON DROPS TWENTY
Junior guard Matee Ajavon led the Scarlet Knights in scoring for the sixth time this season (five of last nine) with 20 points against Duke. It was her 13th career 20-point game and the sixth time in the last nine games. She is averaging 15.7 points per game in the 2007 Women's Championship and 16.0 points per outing in the NCAA Tournament for her career. Ajavon, over the past six games which includes the BIG EAST Tournament, is averaging 15.7 points an outing.
PRINCE CONTINUES TO KEEP OFFENSES ON EDGE
Freshman guard Epiphanny Prince collected three steals in the 53-52 win over Duke. The BIG EAST All-Freshman Team selection has led or tied for the team lead in a game 20 times this season and recorded three or more steals in 17 of the 33 games. Prince has 16 steals in the last four games.
McCURDY DOES IT AGAIN
Freshman forward Myia McCurdy extended her streak of consecutive games scored to 12 with two points against Michigan State. The current stretch is the second-longest (Epiphanny Prince, scored 33 straight games) of any other first-year player on the squad.
