 "Photo: Anastasia Paranica/Staff Photographer")
If you missed the first half of yesterday's game in which Syracuse traveled to take on the No. 7 Rutgers women's basketball, you didn't miss much.
The Scarlet Knights and head coach C. Vivian Stringer started four freshman and never got too comfortable in their first contest since last Friday's road loss in Connecticut.
"I've got a headache," Stringer said. "This wasn't a difficult game. But we made it difficult, because we allowed them to play with us."
Rutgers allowed the Orange to play with them, as the Knights shot a meager 27.3 percent from the field in the first half.
Rutgers was fortunate to go into the half with a lead. Junior forward Michelle Campbell received a pass from freshman guard Matee Ajavon and hit a short jumper in the lane with two seconds left, putting the Knights up 20-19.
It wasn't until the second half that the game took its expected form and looked like a matchup between the seventh-ranked team in the nation against a team just above .500 on the season.
The Knights stole the ball nine times after the first 20 minutes of play, led by senior Cappie Pondexter with five take-aways. The attacking style of defense led to an up-tempo transition game that favored the Knights' athleticism.
At the forefront of Rutgers' group of athletic players was Pondexter.
"I don't need Cappie out there shooting at the three-point dog-gone-it range," Stringer said. "I need her attacking to the inside. Only her and Mat [Ajavon] can really do that, in that way.
While Pondexter led the charge, Campbell was second on the team with 18 points, coming on 8-11 shooting.
The Turnover Game
Rutgers leads the Big East in turnover margin.
Through eight conference games, the Knights created 20.8 turnovers per game and had a differential of plus-6.55.
Yesterday, RU received the ball from the Orange 26 times while yielding just 11 turnovers.
"That's the ballgame," Syracuse head coach Keith Cieplicki said. "When it comes down to them getting easy scores, I mean how many layups [did Rutgers get]? Five, seven lay-ups. It's an eight-point game. If we give 14 points up off turnovers, that's definitely the difference in the game."
Confidence
When asked if she thought the Knights' confidence level is as high now as it was in January (after defeating three top-10 teams), Stringer answered: "No. I don't think it's as confident.
"I'm just being dead honest. Because honestly, this should have not been a contest."
Free, Not Three
Rutgers came into yesterday's game averaging 11 three-point field-goal attempts per game. The Knights matched that number in the first half, but were unable to connect on any of their shots.
In the second half, RU made the only three-point shot they took. With a more aggressive approach, RU made 20 trips to the free-throw line, after making the charity-stripe only four times in the first half.
A Low Number
This was the first time all season Rutgers scored 20 points or less and led at the half.
Previously, RU bounced back against Texas and LSU when putting just 20 on the board in the opening half to post victories.
The Knights failed to prevail at Temple when scoring 20 and at Connecticut, where they scored a season-low 18 first-half points.
Attitude
Freshman guard Jessica Richter (17 points on 5-of-13) picked up a flagrant foul on Matee Ajavon with 8.8 seconds remaining.
This came moments after the freshman committed a hard foul on Pondexter.
"Basketball is a sport that...gets you really intense," Campbell said. "I don't think she was doing it intentionally...that's just the game of basketball."
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