Vaughn Leads Rutgers Past Iowa State, 69-58
Mar 25 | Women's Basketball
DES MOINES, Iowa - For the second time in as many games, junior Kia Vaughn (Bronx, N.Y.) paced four players in double figures as Rutgers moved to the Greensboro Regional semifinals with a 69-58 win over Iowa State in the second round of the 2008 NCAA Women's Basketball Championship.
Vaughn had a season-best 23 points, topping her previous season high reached versus Robert Morris (22 points) in first round action on Saturday. The center scored 17 points in the first half, including a string of 11 straight.
Sophomore guard Epiphanny Prince (Brooklyn, N.Y.) had 17 points highlighted by a 3-of-5 performance from behind the arc.
Senior guard Matee Ajavon (Newark, N.J.) added 16 points and seven assists. Senior Essence Carson (Paterson, N.J.) chipped in 10. The upperclassman combined for 10 of the team's 11 assists and six of the squad's 11 steals.
Junior Heather Ezell paced ISU (21-13) with 19 points, followed by Amanda Nisleit with 15.
The second-seeded Scarlet Knights (26-6) will face sixth-seeded George Washington at the Greensboro Coliseum on Sunday, March 30 at 2:30 p.m. The teams met earlier in the season with RU posting a 67-42 road victory on Nov. 18
Tickets for the regional games in Greensboro will be available by calling the Rutgers Athletics Ticket Office at 866-445-GORU. Tickets are $26 per session
Rutgers led 39-31 at the break but ISU cut the lead to four three times in the first six minutes of the second half. They trailed 45-41 following a lay-in by Kelsey Bolte.
Rutgers responded with a pair of three-pointers by Prince, both from the far baseline and each off a feed from Ajavon. The last triple pushed the Scarlet Knights ahead, 51-41 with 12:47 remaining.
A bank shot by Ajavon with 10:33 to go gave RU its largest lead of the second half at 55-44. The Cyclones would not go away, scoring 10 of the game's next 14 points. A three-pointer by Nisleit off an inbounds possession with 5:00 on the clock cut Rutgers' lead to five, 59-55.
Ajavon and Carson responded with the next two buckets for RU to push the advantage back to nine with less than four minutes remaining.
After the Cyclones took a 4-3 lead at the 16:17 mark of the first half, Rutgers pieced together an 8-0 run to push ahead by seven. Four different players scored during the spurt for RU. The lead for ISU would be its only of the night. The Scarlet Knights led by as many as 12 in the first half.
Rutgers shot 54.2 percent from the field, including a 55 percent showing in the second half.
Ajavon, Carson and Prince were three of the 40 women's basketball players nationwide named as finalists for the 10-member State Farm Coaches' All-America Team, it was announced by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association on Monday evening.
The All-America squad will be announced on April 5, at 9:45 a.m. in Tampa, Fla.
POSTGAME NOTES
With The Win'?
' Rutgers advances to the Sweet 16 for the fourth consecutive season and 10th time in program history.
' Rutgers improves to 31-18 in the NCAA Tournament and 7-1 in its last eight tournament games.
' The Scarlet Knights move to 10-5 in second round games and 5-1 in second round contests on a neutral floor.
' RU improves to 2-0 all-time against Iowa State (both meetings in the NCAA Tournament) and 16-11 against Big 12 conference teams.
Stringer Dominate Against The Cyclones'?
' Head coach C. Vivian Stringer improves to 10-0 all-time against Iowa State. Stringer was 8-0 as the Coach at Iowa University and is now 2-0 with the Scarlet Knights against the Cyclones.
Essence Carson
' Played in her 131st career game as a Scarlet Knight, setting the all-time program record. She passed former greats Tammy Sutton-Brown and Linda Miles.
' Scored 10 points on 5-of-8 shooting. It was her 16th double figure scoring effort of the season and fifth time in double digits in an NCAA Tournament game.
Matee Ajavon'?
' Dished out a team-high seven assists. It marks the ninth time this season that Ajavon has had at least seven dimes and it ties for her second best assist effort in an NCAA Tournament game. The senior has led the team in assists 20 times this season.
' One of four Scarlet Knights in double figures as the senior scored 16 points, including going a perfect 6-of-6 from the free-throw line. Ajavon also tied for the team lead with six rebounds.
Kia Vaughn'?
' Set a new season-high in scoring for the second consecutive game with 23 points on 9-of-12 shooting. Has 45 points over her last two games.
' Vaughn's 17 first half points were the most scored by any RU player in a first half this season. The previous best came in RU's first round NCAA Tournament game when Epiphanny Prince tallied 15 points against Robert Morris. The most points scored in any half came on Feb. 5 when Prince hit for 27 in the second half to lead RU to a win over Connecticut.
Epiphanny Prince'?
' Scored 10 of RU's first 12 points in the second half and finished the game with 17 points, her 23rd double digit scoring output of the year. The sophomore also tied for the team lead in rebounds with six.
' Made all three of the team's three-points field goals. Prince is 7-of-9 from beyond the arc in her last two games and 12-of-22 (54.6%) from three in her eight NCAA Tournament games.
Dominating The Paint'?
' The Scarlet Knights outscored the Cyclones 34-18 in the paint. In its last two games, Rutgers holds a remarkable +48 point advantage in the paint.
40 Straight'?
' With Iowa State shooting 40.8 percent from the field, Rutgers has now held 40 consecutive opponents under 50 percent shooting. Additionally, the RU defense has held its opponents under 59 points in 25 games this season and under 61 or fewer in 29 contests.
Hot Shooting'?
' With their 54.2 percent shooting performance tonight against Iowa State, the Scarlet Knights have shot over 50 percent in three consecutive games and in four of the last five contests.
Scarlet Knight Swipes'?
' With 11 steals against Iowa State, RU has now reached double digits in the steals category eight times this season. The Scarlet Knights posted eight of their 11 steals in the first half against the Cyclones.
Key To Victory'?
' The Scarlet Knights shot 50 percent (3-of-6) from beyond the arc against Iowa State, improving to 12-0 on the year when shooting above 40 percent from downtown.
