No. 14/13 Rutgers Downs Army, 59-38
Dec 14 | Women's Basketball
NEW YORK - Junior Epiphanny Prince (Brooklyn, N.Y.) registered 25 points to lead Rutgers women's basketball to a 59-38 win over Army on Sunday afternoon in the first game of the Maggie Dixon Classic at Madison Square Garden.
| Epiphanny Prince is interviewd on ESPNU after the win. (Tom Ciszek/NJSportsPhoto) |
RU (6-2) used a 14-2 scoring spurt, sparked by Vaughn, to start the game. The center, who attended high school a block from MSG, scored the first six straight and eight of the first 10 points for the Scarlet Knights. Rutgers jumped out to its largest lead of the half, 19-4, following a 10-foot jumper by Prince with 9:35 to go in the first.
Army (5-5) pulled to 10 three times in a two-minute span late in the first stanza thanks to timely three pointers. After a trifecta by Alex McGuire made it a 31-21 game, Prince drained two from the stripe to put Rutgers up 33-21 at the half.
RU commenced the second half on an 8-0 run, capped by a three-pointer from Ray as the Scarlet Knights' leads swelled to 41-21 with 15:13 remaining. Ray had nine of her 12 points in the second half, including Army could get no closer than 12 points the rest of the way.
The Scarlet Knights return to action on Friday, Dec. 19, entertaining Lafayette at 7:30 p.m. at the Louis Brown Athletic Center.
POSTGAME QUOTES
COACH C. VIVIAN STRINGER
On today's game:
"We were trying to just do a couple of things well so it didn't really matter that it was Army or any of the other opponents. I thought that we definitely cut down on the turnovers, I'm trying a couple of things. I thought we made a much more conscious effort to block out so we just basically selected three things, not to lob and to get free in transition. I thought that if we could address those things until we can get through our last game which is Friday and seriously get a chance to make some major improvements over the Christmas holidays, I'd be happy. I was pleased with that, we made an attempt to move Brittany (Ray) which is something I was really pleased with and she made me very calm. Moving her into the point position because as you can see were basically going to have a point (guard) by committee rather than to have any of the natural point guards who are freshmen. We don't seem to move the ball as well but I was pleased with the way we moved it today."
On Rutger's progress:
"I just wanted to address two or three things, as I said I was trying to figure out the problem. We just don't have a point guard. That's really what it is. It's like a chicken with its neck cut off and I've never been in that situation and so it's very, very strange. We're going to have a point guard by committee. It seemed that Epiphanny (Prince) has been strained by running the point and she can't seem to do anything else if she does (run the point) in an effective way. I thought Brittany (Ray) would probably be the one who can handle that because she knows all the patterns well enough. She can bring a sense of calmness. She does know everything and she'll take her shot because she is a shooter. Plus she's in great condition. She was the one in the triangle-and-two that was picking up and playing that particular person that I think a lot of other people would have broken down mentally.
Now can we get the two people who are coming in with the title point guard, can we get them right I don't know. A point guard has so much to do with the mindset as well as the skill set. I was just pleased Brittany (Ray) handled things the way she did. We're just going to work in a very different way from past Christmas breaks. We've always worked extremely hard, but we've really got to break things down in a very fundamental way. Because this team has resisted the conditioning for a long time that we needed to have; because we're there now, we are going to do a lot of running and a lot of thinking while were running so we can go into our presses and those other things. I really do look forward to it and it's not meant as a punishment, believe it or not, we must be able to play our solid game and I haven't seen that game yet. I was pleased with the few things we did today, but we really tried to listen and focus and I thought that everybody was listening to me."
On Kia Vaughn's not getting the ball:
"One reason is the skill level of the guards that are able to give her the ball and see and make the decisions. It's like a quarterback when you say just throw that 50-yard pass but if you can't throw that 50-yard pass, then what are you going to do? Throw a flee flicker? So in this case the guards aren't as skilled as they should be in handling pressure and making passing decisions. The other reason is Kia hasn't been nearly as aggressive as she needs to be. Today, when I took her out, she clearly blocked out like she always does. It's not that she doesn't work, because she works consistently as much, if not more, that anybody else. She's counting on the guards to go get it (the rebound) and it's a mindset. I don't think she realizes it and that's an example of one of the things, but she's going to be much better. We're going to have the chance to spend some time and she's worked extremely hard this summer and I'd like to see those dividends pay her back."
On Brooklyn Pope:
"You knew Brooklyn was going to drive as soon as she got the ball. What I'm thinking is, "this kid can get through things, so how can I create an offense that gets her the ball and make her stop getting anxious?" Because she does do that. I've got some work to do. They've got some work to do and I just need them to be patient. I said Brooklyn, just play within the framework of the team, I promise you you'll stay out (in the game), we'll keep you out there. They're young and so it's their minds I need, and I need for us to learn how to play well together.
And then maybe when we approach practice with our upper classmen or people who have graduated coming back and practicing with us and playing games, we can begin to become a Scarlet Knight team, the one I'm used to seeing."
EPIPHANNY PRINCE
On playing at The Garden:
"I always think of The Garden as my home floor and I just wanted to come out and be aggressive from the beginning and it worked in my favor I guess."
KIA VAUGHN
On today's game:
"We just played together. Coach kept telling us that not purposely you'd become an individual and not force anything and just finding each other and make it flow. It was my time to get the ball I just stayed in synch with the offence and I knew when I had to get the ball or I knew when I had to pass out."
