Women's Basketball: WVU Falls at Rutgers
February 11, 2007 06:52 PM | General
February 11, 2007
PISCATAWAY, N.J. – No. 22 Rutgers used a 16-1 run in the middle of the second half to rally past West Virginia 55-49 on Sunday afternoon at the RAC.
The Mountaineers had control of the game early, jumping out to leads of 8-2 and 11-4 in the early part of the first half. West Virginia (16-9, 7-5) employed a 2-3 zone defense that limited center Kia Vaughn’s effectiveness and forced the Scarlet Knights to shoot from outside.
The Mountaineers built a 21-18 halftime advantage by holding Rutgers to just 35 percent shooting and forcing 11 Scarlet Knight turnovers.
West Virginia enjoyed its largest lead of the game at 30-23 after a LaQuita Owens free throw with 14:20 left to play.
However, the outside shots that weren’t falling in the first half found their mark in the second period for Rutgers.
Leading scorer Epiphanny Prince was scoreless in the first half, but hit four 3-pointers in the second half to cap the run and put the Scarlet Knights up 44-35 with less than six minutes to go in the game.
Owens quickly responded with a 3 of her own at the other end to pull the Mountaineers to within 44-38, but when Essence Carson hit a driving lay up and was fouled, converting the three-point play on Rutger’s ensuing possession, any momentum West Virginia had mounted was quickly extinguished.
The Mountaineers would get no closer than four the rest of the way.
For the game, WVU hit just 17 of 45 shots from the field including 6 of 16 from 3-point range.
Rutgers (15-7, 8-3) was led by Carson with 15 points while Prince added 12. Kia Vaughn rounded out the Knights in double figures, pitching in 10.
West Virginia got 22 points from Owens, marking the fifth time this season the Charlotte, N.C. native has gone over the 20-point mark. Chakhia Cole was the only other Mountaineer in double-figures, scoring 15 points to go along with five rebounds.
West Virginia now has six days off before hosting USF on Saturday evening. Tip-off from the WVU Coliseum is set for 6:30 p.m.
