No. 7 Rutgers Upsets No. 1 Connecticut, 73-71
Feb 05 | Women's Basketball
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Led by sophomore Epiphanny Prince (Brooklyn, N.Y.), the No. 7 Rutgers women's basketball team recorded a dramatic come-from-behind win over top-ranked and previously unbeaten Connecticut, 73-71, before a sellout crowd of 8,026 Tuesday night at the Louis Brown Athletic Center.
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Matee Ajavon tallied 13 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for her first double-double of the season .(Jim O'Connor/NJ Sport Pics) |
The Scarlet Knights (19-3, 9-1 BIG EAST) notched 49 second-half points against the nation's top defensive team. The 73 points is the most allowed by Connecticut (21-1, 8-1) this season and the most since the Huskies fell to LSU, 73-50 in the 2007 Fresno Regional final.
Junior Renee Montgomery paced Connecticut with 24 points, followed by Tina Charles' 16. Freshman Maya Moore scored all 15 of her points in the second half, extending her Connecticut-record streak of consecutive double-digit scoring games to 22.
Down nine points at the half and 10 with 16:19 remaining in the game, Rutgers was sparked by the play of Prince, who fueled a 15-2 run. The sophomore converted on back-to-back three-point plays and followed with a fast-break lay-in to tie the score at 46-46 with 12:57 showing before the teams traded baskets and leads down the stretch.
Ketia Swanier drained a shot from beyond the arc with just over 10 minutes left to give the lead back to Connecticut, 51-48. After Rutgers center Kia Vaughn finished in the paint, UConn answered with a three-point play by Montgomery to again put the visitors up by three, 58-55 at the 8:09 mark.
Prince stole the ball and was fouled at the other end of the court, converting both shots to give RU a 61-58 edge with 4:37 on the clock. A long jumper and two later free throws from Prince padded the lead for Rutgers as time wound down, as the Scarlet Knights led by their largest margin of seven (70-63) with 1:39 remaining.
But the late-game dramatics unfolded as Moore knocked down a three with just over a minute left to cut the RU advantage to three. The Scarlet Knights committed a shot-clock violation with 34 seconds left to give the ball back to the Huskies. The Rutgers defense answered toe call as senior Essence Carson (Paterson, N.J.) swiped the ball from Montgomery on the ensuing play. Carson, fouled after the steal, hit one of two at the stripe to make it a four-point, two-possession game, 73-69, with just six seconds on the clock.
Connecticut ran the length of the court for a lay-up with under a second left but the clock expired as Rutgers earned the 73-71 victory in thrilling fashion.
The victory ties the largest come-from-behind victory for Rutgers this season (Maryland) and extends the squad's home winning streak to 11 games.
Rutgers also received double-digit efforts from center Kia Vaughn (Bronx, N.Y.) with 14 points and senior Matee Ajavon (Newark, N.J.) with 13. Ajavon added 10 boards, a career-high, to earn the first double-double of her career. The guard has now scored in double figures 11 straight games.
Over the past four seasons, the Huskies are 51-6 against BIG EAST opponents in the regular season, with four of those six losses coming at the hand of Rutgers.
The Scarlet Knights will return to the court next Monday, Feb. 11, for a rematch of the 2007 national championship game taking on Tennessee at Thompson Boling Arena in Knoxville.
POSTGAME NOTES
-In the last four seasons, Connecticut is 51-6 in regular season BIG EAST play, with four of the six losses coming at the hands of the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.
-Rutgers scored 73 points, marking the most points scored against the Huskies this season, and the most since LSU posted the same amount on March 26, 2007, in a 73-50 win in the NCAA Tournament. Rutgers scored 49 points in the second half, marking the most points scored in a half against UConn in more than two seasons, and the most RU has scored in a half this season.
-Rutgers shot 44.6 percent (25-of-56), marking the highest field goal percentage against the Huskies this season.
-Rutgers finished 20-of-22 from the free throw line, marking the most free throws made and attempted against UConn this season.
-The game featured seven ties and six lead changes, including six ties and three lead changes in the second half.
-The last time RU faced the No. 1 ranked team, it defeated then No. 1 Duke 53-52 in the NCAA Tournament Greensboro Regional Semifinals. The last No. 1 ranked team to play at the RAC was LSU on Jan. 5, 2005. Rutgers posted a 51-49 overtime win over the Lady Tigers.
-Rutgers has won 11 consecutive home matches, and owns an 11-1 record at the RAC this season.
-RU improves to 79-146 against ranked teams, including a 6-3 mark this season.
The win today'?
-Marks the first loss of the season for Connecticut, and its first loss since March 26, 2007, when it fell to LSU 73-50 in the NCAA Tournament.
-Marks the first regular season BIG EAST loss since it fell to Rutgers 48-42 at the RAC on Feb. 27, 2006.
-Gives Rutgers its sixth victory against Connecticut in 26 games, and its second consecutive. The Scarlet Knights defeated the Huskies 55-47 on March 6, 2007, at Hartford, Conn., to win their first-ever BIG EAST Championship.
-Ties the largest come from behind victory for the Scarlet Knights this season. RU trailed by 10 points in the second half. The Scarlet Knights also trailed Pittsburgh by 10 with 12:57 to play before coming back to win 64-60 on Saturday, Feb. 2.
Epiphanny Prince (Brooklyn, N.Y.)'?
-Scored a career-high 33 points. Her previous high was 29, set against Florida on Nov. 18, 2006. It marks the first time an RU player has scored 30 or more points since Cappie Poindexter scored 35 at Boston College on Feb. 8, 2004.
-Scored more than 20 points for the fourth time this season and the seventh time of her career.
-Hit a career-high 11 free throws, finishing 11-of-11 from the charity stripe, marking the most free throws hit by an RU player since Jan. 11, 2006, when Cappie Poindexter went 11-of-15 in a 66-65 win at USF.
-Has scored in double-figures in 16 games this season, including four in a row.
-Finished the game 10-of-20 from the floor, one field goal short of tying her career-high of 11, set against Florida on Nov. 18, 2006. Her 20 field goal attempts marks a career-high. Her previous high was 17, set at St. Joseph's on Nov. 28.
-Finished with six steals, tying her career-high, previously set three times, most recently against Temple on Dec. 30.
Matee Ajavon (Newark, N.J.)'?
-Tallied 13 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for her first double-double of the season and the third of her career. Her 10 rebounds is a career-high. Her previous high was six, set five times, most recently against Providence on Feb. 20.
-Finished with three field goals, giving her 547 for her career, and passing Patti Sikorski (545) for 10th place on Rutgers' all-time career field goals list.
-Has scored in double-figures in 11 straight games, the longest stretch of any RU player this season.
Essence Carson (Paterson, N.J.)'?
-Finished with five points, giving her 1,109 for her career, and passing Jennie Hall (1,104) for 20th place on Rutgers' all-time career scoring list.
-Blocked the 100th shot of her career and grabbed her 100th rebound of the season (currently has 103).
Connecticut Head Coach Geno Auriemma Post-Game Quotes
On closing out the first half:
"I thought there were a couple of possessions that we really didn't get as much out of them as we wanted. When we went into the locker room and talked about 'You play defense you hold a team to 24 points, you have to believe you can be up more than nine.' Still, being up nine, that's not bad'?Epiphanny (Prince) just started making shots and got everyone into the flow of it'?For us, offensively, I don't think we got enough, for whatever reason. We were a little tentative and Renee (Montgomery) got a little tired having to play the whole game. Ketia (Swainer) got tired. I just thought we wore down a little bit. Maya (Moore) was fresh because she didn't play the whole first half. We are going to find a way to get more contributions from more people. I thought, defensively, we didn't play that bad in the second half, but not as well as we should have. They just made some tough shots and got to the free throw line."
On the turnover differential:
"We pass the ball a lot. We get everybody involved. One of the problems is that too many people get involved and the ball is all over the place'?I just thought we lost our composure, plain and simple. We picked the dribble up. I though Ketia and Lorin (Dixon) had a really hard time and it just snowballed from there'?Just some dumb stuff'?Over and over and over again. It's just disappointing. It really is."
On trying to slow down Epiphanny Prince:
"We mixed up our defenses a little bit. I don't think we doubled her enough. I don't think we doubled her as much as we probably could have. You try not to think this way, but you think that one of our guys can guard one of their guys. It wasn't like she made easy shots. I don't think she had many wide open shots. They were tough shots. I was kind of disappointed in our big guys because we made her put the ball on the floor and go to the basket a couple times and, for whatever reason, we didn't get the stop that we needed. We ended up putting her on the free throw line. She is pretty good at drawing fouls."
On the final play:
"I thought we had something pretty good set up. Renee came off the double and it might just have been a little bit rushed. She was open. We'll probably do it again tomorrow'?I think when we go back and watch the film with the team they will see a whole bunch of things that they wish they had to do over again'?When they start making shots like that you have to come back and counter. There are just times in our offense recently where we are not getting enough'?Obviously it's not the outcome that we wanted but I don't think this has any effect on what's down the road."
