 "Photo: Onnie Koski/Photography Editor")
Pittsburgh 42
Rutgers 63
PITTSBURGH, Pa. - Fortunately for the Rutgers women's basketball team, a win is a win.
Their most recent one wasn't pretty, and the halftime score resembled something Cappie Pondexter might turn in by herself on any other day, but this one counted just the same in the books.
And thanks to a little help from Boston College in defeating Connecticut on Saturday, the win also guaranteed RU the regular season conference title and sole possession of the top seed for the upcoming Big East tournament.
Despite shooting 7-32 from the field for a lowly 15 points in the first half, the Scarlet Knights (22-5, 13-2) were able to hold on for the 63-42 win against unranked Pittsburgh on Friday night at the Peterson Events Center, extending their winning streak to seven games.
For Rutgers head coach C. Vivian Stringer, no excuse can justify a start like the one she saw in the first half, but the fact that the team bus got lost on the way to the arena and the limited warm-up time the team had because of Pittsburgh's Senior Night ceremony did deserve some consideration.
"I mention it only because I'm not looking for an excuse, but you have to recognize it," Stringer said. "I'm going to mention it to the Big East so that when they honor the seniors [in the tournament], this doesn't happen."
RU finally got the warm-up it needed, more than tripling its score in the second frame and shooting a much more efficient 55-percent. This all came after a technical foul given to Pittsburgh head coach Agnus Berenato that inadvertently swung the momentum the Knights' way.
"As a team, we knew exactly what we needed to do," Pondexter said of Rutgers halftime attitude change.
The Knights finally woke up after an Amy Kunich three-pointer gave the Panthers a 23-21 advantage with 16:11 left to play in the game. Pittsburgh didn't score again for another four minutes as Rutgers was able to string together a 14-1 run during that span.
Halfway through the second, RU had already out-shot the Panthers by 20 and began to take advantage of their trademark "55-press" to force some turnovers and convert easy buckets.
"We were just a step slow and needed to upstart things by applying the press," Stringer said. "We needed that spark."
Freshman Essence Carson drew a hard foul that upset the Rutgers' fans in attendance. Carson put home both free throws and followed it up with a lay-up that brought the Knights up by 12 with over ten minutes to play.
The Knights controlled the remainder of the half, building the lead up to as many as 22 with about a minute left in a game that should have been that one-sided the whole time.
"We really took Rutgers out of their game ... we really wanted to attack them," Berenato said. "The difference was that in the second half we were down and we were slower."
Berenato, in her second season as head coach of the Panthers, cited this game as her team's best defensive effort of the season, despite being what she described as "manhandled" by the stronger RU squad in the second half. The term was perhaps still too generous.
On RU's end, it was junior Michelle Campbell's impressive showing that was the sticking point in overcoming the early struggles. Campbell recorded her sixth career double-double and her 18th double-digit performance of the season, leading the Scarlet Knights with 17 points and 11 rebounds.
Senior Chelsea Newton and freshman Matee Ajavon combined for 28 points, while Pondexter was held to only nine points as a result of another stifling box-and-one defense thrown her way. She did, however, help her teammates out with five boards and six assists.
The Knights took advantage of their free throws, shooting 73 percent from the line as opposed to the Panthers' 9-24.
"The bottom line was free throws," Berenato said. "You can't expect to compete with a top-10 team like Rutgers and not make free throws."
Pitt struggled in taking care of the ball as well, turning the ball over a devastating 26 times and forcing only 13 out of RU. They played a large portion of the game without leading scorer Marcedes Walker who made an early exit due to a shoulder injury.
Walker had tallied six points and ten boards for the Panthers. Kunich led all Pittsburgh players with 15 points.
Although they finally found a way to get things going, the Knights can't be overly thrilled with the performance.
They went 1-10 from three-point range, committed 23 fouls and were held in check for 20 minutes by a team they've beaten 10 times in a row and are now 4-11 in conference. The offense has been less than spectacular the last few games, and this time it frustrated Stringer enough to have her send all four of her freshman out on the court at the same time to find something that would spark the team.
"They gave us the one thing we were lacking, energy," Stringer said.
Rutgers will look to break the streak of slow offensive starts and end the season on a high note, as they travel to Villanova to take on the Wildcats tomorrow night.
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