Rutgers Earns 57-47 Victory Over George Washington
Dec 29 | Women's Basketball
PISCATAWAY, N.J - Rutgers used a balanced attack to vault past George Washington, 57-47 on Monday evening at the Louis Brown Athletic Center. The win was the 20th straight on their home court and capped off a perfect month of December (6-0) for the Scarlet Knights.
| Nikki Speed guards GW's Erica Rivera. Tom Ciszek/NJSportsPhoto) |
Junior Epiphanny Prince (Brooklyn, N.Y.) had 17 points, 11 of those coming in the second half, to lead all scorers. Senior Kia Vaughn (Bronx, N.Y.) chipped in 10 points and eight rebounds. RU had six players register five or more points and all but one- of the 10 that saw action - scored in the game.
The Colonials (7-5) were paced by Yolanda Lavender who had 20 points.
Rutgers pulled ahead 13-8 in the first 7:35 of the game while forcing GW - with its stingy press - to turn the ball over on six of its first nine and eight of its first 13 possessions. The Scarlet Knights stretched the lead to nine (17-8) on a put-back by Vaughn with 9:54 to go in the first half.
On the next play, Antelia Parrish drained a three-pointer to commence a 14-4 GW run and take a 22-21 lead. Senior Heather Zurich (Montvale, N.J.) opened up an 8-0 Scarlet Knights spurt to push RU to a 29-22 halftime advantage. The Colonials failed to score over the last 4:52 of the half while committing five turnovers over the span.
The teams traded baskets in the early going of the second as the Colonials would cut the lead to five only to see Rutgers extend the advantage three times to nine points. Junior center Rashidat Junaid (Chesilhurst, N.J.) scored on a turnaround in the paint to push RU to a 40-31 lead with 11:32 showing. GW closed to 40-36 but RU answered as a pull-up jumper from Khadijah Rushdan (Wilmington, Del.) followed by a steal and subsequent lay-in by Prince made it an eight-point game (46-38) with 9:13 to play.
Rutgers grabbed its first double-digit lead of the half, 50-39, on an offensive follow from Vaughn with 4:10 remaining. With just over three minutes to play the Colonials pulled to within eight points but Zurich tallied five straight for RU to help clinch the win.
The Scarlet Knights, who have held their last five opponents to 40.8 points per game, return to action with the start of a new year. RU entertains Tennessee on Saturday, Jan. 3 at the RAC. The contest with a 2:00 p.m. start time on CBS is sold-out.
POSTGAME NOTES
WITH THE WIN
With the 57-47 win over George Washington, Rutgers improves to 28-8 all-time against the Colonials. The Scarlet Knights have now won four straight against GW and improve to 15-2 at home versus the A-10 foe.
DECEMBER TO REMEMBER
After defeating George Washington on December 29, Rutgers finished the month of December with a perfect 6-0 record. It's the first time RU has gone 6-0 or better in a single month since going 7-0 in March 2007 during their run to the National Championship game. This was the first time the Knights have opened the month of December with at least a 5-0 record since the 2005-06 season. And this is the third time in RU history the team has gone unbeaten in December (1986 and 1990).
TWENTY SOMETHING
Rutgers increased its home win streak to 20 games with the 57-47 victory over George Washington on December 29. They are now tied with Stanford for the sixth longest streak in the nation. RU won 14 straight games at home last season (2007-08) after dropping the season opener versus Stanford on November 11, 2007. The 20 consecutive wins at the RAC are the most at home since the Scarlet Knights won 21 straight from February 18, 2004 until January 14, 2006, including all 13 home contests in 2004-05.
FAIR AND BALANCED
In the first half of Rutgers' 57-47 win against George Washington, all nine players who entered the game scored at least one point. The Knights were led by Epiphanny Prince and Brittany Ray, who each scored six points in the opening period.
BETTER TO GIVE THAN RECEIVE
The Scarlet Knights forced 22 turnovers against George Washington, including 16 in the first half. Rutgers was able to capitalize on the miscues, scoring 19 points off turnovers in the game. The 22 turnovers are the most for an RU opponent this season since Prairie View A&M turned the ball over 22 times on December 11. The plus-8 differential in turnovers is the second in a row for Rutgers, as they forced 19 turnovers and only allowed 11 in their last game against Lafayette on December 19.
BOARDING SCHOOL
Rutgers snapped their streak of five straight games out-rebounding their opponents. George Washington held a 34-31 advantage under the boards, but were unable to come away with the victory. It was the first time this season RU has won a game when it did not pull down more rebounds than its opponents. The last time Rutgers won a game when the other team got more rebounds was in the second round of the 2008 NCAA Tournament against Iowa State. The Scarlet Knights won the game 69-58, but Iowa State held a 30-25 advantage on the boards.
DISHING D
With her four assists against George Washington, Khadijah Rushdan not only led the team, but also established a new career-high in assists. Her previous high was three assists against Creighton in her first career game on November 16, 2007. The three assists against Creighton were the only ones in Rushdan's eight games last season before she suffered a season-ending knee injury.
STAYING INSIDE
For just the second time this season, the Scarlet Knights made just two three-pointers in a game. Rutgers shot two-of-nine beyond the arc against the Colonials, matching the game against Prairie View A&M on December 11 when they managed to make only two threes on 10 attempts. The last time RU failed to make at least one three pointer in a game was on November 16 of last season, when they shot 0-for-3 from three-point range in a 62-43 win over Creighton.
SEEING DOUBLE
For the third consecutive game and sixth time this season, Epiphanny Prince and Kia Vaughn reached double digits in points in the same game. Prince scored 17 to lead the Scarlet Knights in scoring for the eighth time this season, while Vaughn added 10 points of her own, her seventh double-figure effort of the year.
PARTNERS IN CRIME
In RU's 57-47 victory over George Washington, eight players had at least one steal, led by Brittany Ray's three thefts. The rest of the starting lineup had two steals apiece, while Khadijah Rushdan, Nikki Speed, and April Sykes all came off the bench to add a steal of their own. It was the first time Rutgers had at least eight players with one steal since the season opener against St. Joseph's.
POSTGAME QUOTES
Epiphanny Prince
On Heather's points at the end of the game:
"I think it was big because they (GW) were going on a little bit of a run. They were scoring with the clock stopped, and then when Heather scored, it helped out a lot. She was rebounding a lot too."
Key to half time lead:
"We just have to attack them first, we came out aggressive attacking the rim, and when we started pressing them we were forcing a lot of turnovers."
Kia Vaughn
On Jessica Adair's play:
"I played against Courtney (Paris) and Sylvia (Fowles) and everybody else, so I would put her up there with the rest of us. She's a great center, big body."
On if the team is ready for Tennessee and BIG EAST play:
"Right now, we still have a lot to work on. Coach is going to get us in the gym, and by the time Tennessee comes, I think we will be ready to play them. We just have to sit down, shake off this game a bit, and prepare for the next one."
On the key to RU's recent winning streak
"I thought this game proved how hard we have been working over the break. Not being in school and everything else, we have been in the gym day in and day out. Little things, we've been trying to focus on little things."
Head Coach C. Vivian Stringer
How ready is this team for the tough next part of the schedule:
"I think given where we were when we started playing games, we are light years ahead of where we were. We are not where we have to be, but I can see improvements. I was hoping that we could have seen major changes and improvement when we went to Temple. We still are lacking a lot of things that we need to play at this level. I thought that this was the first competitive game since the losses at Cal and Stanford, and this game would tell us a lot."
On the point guard play:
"Brittany did a great job being that she has played the two guard all her life. It was encouraging to see Nikki Speed and Khadijah (Rushdan) begin to assume more responsibility as a point, because that means that Brittany can return to being a shooter.
On practice:
"There are things that hours of practice will tell. That's why for the Scarlet Knights it's always extremely important that we get real solid practice time. We'll practice seven or eight hours in a day when we are on break. So we'll have two sessions where we are learning, we are explaining and we are taking our time. It pays off, it always pays off for us."
George Washington 47
| Total | 3-point | Rebounds | ||||||||||||
| ## | Player | p | fgm-fga | fgm-fga | ftm-fta | off-def | tot | pf | tp | a | to | blk | stl | min |
| 13 | PARRISH, Antelia | f | 3-7 | 3-6 | 0-0 | 0-6 | 6 | 1 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 36 |
| 34 | ABIONA, Ivy | f | 2-3 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 1-1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 19 |
| 01 | ADAIR, Jessica | c | 2-5 | 0-0 | 3-6 | 2-5 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 22 |
| 00 | LAVENDER, Yolanda | g | 4-12 | 3-7 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 35 |
| 05 | MYERS, Tiana | g | 0-1 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| 21 | ADAIR, Jazmine | - | 3-3 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 0-3 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 15 |
| 23 | RIVERA, Erica | - | 2-8 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 30 |
| 31 | BOOKER, Tara | - | 0-5 | 0-3 | 3-4 | 3-5 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
| 44 | MOSTAFA, Sara | - | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| TM | TEAM | - | - | - | - | 2-3 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Totals.............. | - | 16-45 | 7-19 | 8-13 | 9-25 | 34 | 16 | 47 | 11 | 22 | 3 | 8 | 200 | |
| 35.6% | 36.8% | 61.5% | ||||||||||||
| Team summary: | FG | 3FG | FT | |||||||||||
| 1st Half: | 7-20 | 5-11 | 3-4 | |||||||||||
| 35.0% | 45.5% | 75.0% | ||||||||||||
| 2nd Half: | 9-25 | 2-8 | 5-9 | |||||||||||
| 36.0% | 25.0% | 55.6% | ||||||||||||
Rutgers 57
| Total | 3-point | Rebounds | ||||||||||||
| ## | Player | p | fgm-fga | fgm-fga | ftm-fta | off-def | tot | pf | tp | a | to | blk | stl | min |
| 21 | ZURICH, Heather | f | 3-5 | 1-1 | 1-2 | 1-2 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 37 |
| 24 | McCURDY, Myia | f | 0-2 | 0-0 | 2-2 | 0-2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 21 |
| 15 | VAUGHN, Kia | c | 5-9 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 3-5 | 8 | 4 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 26 |
| 10 | PRINCE, Epiphanny | g | 7-13 | 0-3 | 3-5 | 1-3 | 4 | 3 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 27 |
| 35 | RAY, Brittany | g | 1-8 | 0-1 | 4-4 | 1-4 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 38 |
| 01 | RUSHDAN, Khadijah | - | 2-3 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 21 |
| 11 | SPEED, Nikki | - | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| 12 | SYKES, April | - | 1-5 | 0-2 | 0-2 | 0-1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 10 |
| 34 | LEE, Chelsey | - | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 43 | JUNAID, Rashidat | - | 1-2 | 0-0 | 3-5 | 1-2 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 14 |
| TM | TEAM | - | - | - | - | 1-1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Totals.............. | - | 21-48 | 2-9 | 13-22 | 8-23 | 31 | 13 | 57 | 7 | 14 | 2 | 14 | 200 | |
| 43.8% | 22.2% | 59.1% | ||||||||||||
| Team summary: | FG | 3FG | FT | |||||||||||
| 1st Half: | 10-28 | 1-6 | 8-14 | |||||||||||
| 35.7% | 16.7% | 57.1% | ||||||||||||
| 2nd Half: | 11-20 | 1-3 | 5-8 | |||||||||||
| 55.0% | 33.3% | 62.5% | ||||||||||||
| Score by Periods | 1st | 2nd | Total | |
| George Washington | 22 | 25 | 47 | Record: (7-5) |
| Rutgers | 29 | 28 | 57 | Record: (8-2) |
