Survive and Advance: Rutgers Women Move on to Quarters

by ibleedscarlet on Mar 7, 2009 9:42 PM EST in Basketball Comment 0 comments

Rutgers jumped out to a 12-2 lead and never looked back in their Big East Tournament 2nd round game against #15 Seton Hall. The Lady Knights had a 44-20 lead at the half, and extended it throughout the second half on their way to a 79-45 rout of the Pirates.

Rutgers pounded SHU with a balanced offensive attack led by Brittany Ray who recorded 17 points for the Knights. Khadijah Rushdon and Epiphanny Prince both chipped in with 15 each for RU, as they shot 56% from the floor (compared to 31% for SHU).

The win moves RU into the quaterfinals where they will face #2 seed Louisville (who are also ranked 7th nationally) on Sunday night at 6:00. Let's take a quick look at how the teams match-up:

Rutgers	Stats (thru 3/5)	Louisville
61.7	Points Per Game	73.4
54.2	PPG/Against	56.5
41.8%	FG%	43.8%
70.3%	Free Throw %	73.3%
30.3%	Three Point %	32.6%
36.1	Rebounds/Game	41.0
0-1	Head-to-Head (this season)	1-0

This is a tough match-up for the Knights. Louisville beat RU on January 11th in a low-scoring affair 54-49. I can see this one being the same way, a back-and-forth, grind it out, defensive game. I'm going with the Knights, and hoping that Kia Vaughn explodes for 20 points (she only had 2 vs. SHU). The Knights will utilize their experience and close it out in the final minutes.