 "Photo: Matt Moss/Staff Photographer")
Villanova 59
Rutgers 64
HARTFORD, Conn. - Two years ago in the 2002 Big East Tournament, a lower seeded Villanova team shocked first-seeded Connecticut en route to winning the Big East title.
Last evening, it looked as if 'Nova would pull off another upset to return to the title game - this time against the No. 9 Rutgers women's basketball team.
But the Scarlet Knights' suffocating 55-press led to a 21-4 second-half run and Rutgers' second consecutive trip to the Big East championship matchup.
"When they play fast like that, they're hard to stop," Villanova guard Betsy McManus said after Rutgers beat the Wildcats 64-59 in the semifinal round of the tournament at the Hartford Civic Center last night.
"We knew it was coming at halftime. They're known for that. They just get up in your face."
Rutgers will now look to capture its first-ever Big East title, taking on No.14 Connecticut in the championship round tonight at 7 p.m.
Last night's game began with much of the same feel as the team's second-round matchup against St. John's did.
Freshman Matee Ajavon - who finished with 16 points - started hot for the Knights, as she hit her first three shots from the field and scored the team's first eight points.
Unfortunately for the Knights, Ajavon cooled off and the Knights offense went cold while Villanova could not miss through the first 20 minutes of play. Going into the half, RU found itself behind by double digits for the third time this season, with the score at 31-20.
'Nova shot 50 percent from the field and hit seven first-half threes.
The previous two times the Knights had been behind by double figures (against LSU and Tennessee), they were able to capture wins due to their suffocating defense. Last evening, the defense once again led to a Rutgers victory.
"We knew in the first half that we didn't play our style of basketball," Pondexter said. "We talked about the little things, what we needed to do."
Seeing that the pace needed to be changed to a more uptempo game, Rutgers head coach C. Vivian Stringer went with a quicker, smaller line up to begin the second. The five players would play the entire final 20 minutes and four of them finished with double digits in scoring.
"I think each player of this group just stepped up and played," Stringer said. "We gave it everything we could, and we were extremely proud of the way we played."
After only forcing three first-half turnovers, RU frustrated the Wildcats into 11 turnovers in the second, which led to 20 points off those turnovers.
"I am sure that it's frustrating for the other team when we are forcing turnovers like we did in the second," Newton said. "It's extra gas for us just to see the other team get frustrated."
The frustration of the Wildcats led to a 21-4 run midway through the second. RU scored 13 straight to take the lead for the first time since 12-11, at 41-39 with 11:59 remaining and would not trail for the remainder of the contest.
Freshman Essence Carson, senior Chelsea Newton and Pondexter all tallied over 10 points in the second half to provide the much-needed offense.
Only attempting three three-pointers the entire game, RU slowly crawled back into the game by taking what the defense gave them and hitting its shots. The team shot 52 percent from in the field in the second and hit 15-of-16 free throws - 20-of-21 for the game.
RU also did a nice job holding onto the ball, turning it over only two times in the final 20 minutes of play.
On the defensive side, it was junior Michelle Campbell that lifted the Knights' team. After struggling in the first with the outside shooting of the Wildcats, Campbell let her presence be known in the second.
The 6-foot-2-inch forward finished with seven rebounds, two blocks and two steals to go along with eight points.
Campbell pestered the Wildcat players that helped lead to 10 steals by the RU defense, with eight coming in the second half.
Along with Carson - who pulled down eight rebounds - Campbell helped RU dominate the boards by a count of 30-18. That helped RU get 10 second-chance points, compared to only three by 'Nova.
UConn defeated Notre Dame 67-54 in last night's other semifinal game.
RU and UConn split the regular season meetings, with each team winning on its home floor.
When asked if the team would be worn down for tonight's championship, Newton smiled and said the team will be fine.
"It's the final game. It's the Championship," Newton said. "You have to give it all you have. You work so hard to get to this point."
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