 "Photo: Anastasia Paranicas/Senior Photographer")
West Virginia 49
Rutgers 70
In its final tune-up before the biggest showdown of the season, the No. 8 Rutgers women's basketball team showed why it's among the elites in the Big East Conference.
After allowing the West Virginia Mountaineers to record the first basket of the game, the Scarlet Knights went on a 21-0 run at the Louis Brown Athletic Center yesterday, fueled by 12 straight turnovers, and never looked back on their way to a 70-49 victory.
"We have embraced the small things," said head coach C. Vivian Stringer, whose Knights will face a big challenge when they take on the Connecticut Huskies Thursday. "Everything runs through our defense and we understand geometry, we know angles. It is not how fast you are, but it's how you use your head."
In front of a crowd of 5,479, the Knights - led by junior forward Michelle Campbell's 9-of-13 from the field, 20-point, eleven-rebound performance - used their heads, as three players finished in double figures and the team as a whole shot 46 percent from the field, while forcing a Big East Conference season-high 29 turnovers.
Rutgers (15-4, 6-1) also dished out assists on 26 of their 29 made shots.
All seemed well for the Knights, who looked as if they would coast into the UConn game - both healthy and confident.
Rutgers dominated inside, outscoring the Mountaineers in the paint by a count of 34-16 and outrebounding WVU, 33-27. RU also recorded 29 points off turnovers and had 12 fast-break points.
"I played alright today," Campbell said. "We definitely had the advantage in the post. We were quicker and played better together."
But what looked like a near-perfect day for Rutgers took a turn for the worse when, at the 16:33 mark, senior guard Chelsea Newton ran into a West Virginia player and fell hard on her neck and head.
The emotional leader of the squad had to be taken off the court on a stretcher, with her neck placed in a protective brace.
Newton - who has started all 19 games for the Knights thus far this season - was diagnosed with a mild concussion and muscle strains in her neck. She is listed as day to day, a team official said.
"Our team is full of survivors," Stringer said. "We have adjusted to everything and there isn't anything we can't take. We are a cat with nine lives and you can't shut us down."
With the score 34-22 - following the 15-minute stoppage after Newton went down - the Knights looked visibly shaken as they committed turnovers on three consecutive possessions.
Senior guard Cappie Pondexter - who finished with 16 points, six assists and five rebounds - settled her team down and took control of the game. After two free throws by Sherell Sowho, Pondexter hit a three and then followed that up with a jumper and a sweet no look pass to freshman guard Essence Carson - who contributed 13 points and eight rebounds - to stop WVU's mini run.
"We have proven how good we are," Pondexter said. "I was looking for a ballgame today, I was ready to play. Great teams play every game the same and we just want to learn every game and get better."
Pondexter - who passed Tammy Sutton-Brown for 15th all-time on the Rutgers career-scoring list - wasn't the only one that brought her A-game against West Virginia.
Senior guard Nikki Jett, despite only scoring two points, had two straight steals when it looked as if WVU would climb back into the game.
Jett also helped shut down senior Mountaineer guard Yolanda Paige, holding her to 13 points and only three assists - well below her 9.6 assists per game average.
Sophomore forward Meg Bulger, the Big East's leading scorer was able to hit 7-of-12 from the field and finish with 19 points, but coughed the ball up seven times.
The Knights will now travel to Hartford, Conn., to take on the No. 10 Huskies Thursday at 7 p.m.
"Am I ready?" Jett said when answering a question about the Knights next contest. "Oh yeah, that's a big game for us. We play to win and we plan on taking that game. All we have to do is go out there with confidence, because no one can beat us if we do."
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