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Princeton University
Rutgers
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Rutgers' Vaughn Too Much for Princeton in 76-51 Women's Hoops Defeat
December 09, 2006 | Women's Basketball
PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- With no answer on defense for Rutgers center Kia Vaughn, Princeton suffered as the 6-4 sophomore exploited her matchup and scored a career-high 27 points in a 76-51 win for Rutgers over the Tiger women's basketball team Saturday night in Piscataway, N.J.
Princeton dropped to 3-6 on the season. Rutgers upped its record to 3-4 with the win after entering the week 2-2 and ranked No. 19 in the Associated Press poll and 21st in the ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll.
Technically, Princeton just had no eligible answer for Vaughn. Becky Brown '06, Princeton's third all-time leading scorer and a strong post player who helped the Tigers' run to the Ivy title last year, was watching from a few rows behind the Tiger bench. In last season's meeting, a 65-56 Rutgers win that was in doubt until the final minute, Vaughn had just six points while Cappie Pondexter, Rutgers' point guard who is now in the WNBA, led the Scarlet Knights with 25 points and 21 in the second half.
Meagan Cowher led Princeton with 16 points, while Jessica Berry had 13 points and Ali Prichard added 12. For Rutgers, freshman guard Epiphanny Prince, who made headlines by scoring 113 points in a high school game last February, made the most of her first Scarlet Knights start by scoring 19 points. Matee Ajavon was also in double-figures with 14.
"I was proud of how my team played tonight," head coach Richard Barron said. "(We just had) a couple periods where we lost our composure."
"I think it was the kind of game that we needed," Cowher said. "We were looking for everyone to step up and be physical and Rutgers is a good team to go up against."
Cowher, Prichard and Casey Lockwood combined to give Princeton a 7-6 lead just under three minutes into the game, but the Tigers missed their next nine shots and netted only a free throw before Cowher scored again eight minutes later. Meanwhile, Rutgers went on a 13-1 run to take a 19-8 lead.
Rutgers' lead grew to as many as 18 points at 37-19 with 2:35 to play, but Princeton scored the half's last seven points to cut the deficit to 11.
Princeton had 15 first-half turnovers and shot 35.7 percent in the opening 20 minutes, statistics that tipped the game Rutgers' way. The Scarlet Knights hit 15 of their 29 shots, 51.7 percent, and had nine giveaways. For the game, Rutgers won the turnover battle, 23-13, and outscored Princeton in points off turnovers, 26-6.
The two teams' shooting percentages continued to go in divergent directions in the second half. Rutgers shot 53.3 percent (16 of 30) in the game's last 20 minutes, compared to 33.3 percent (7 of 21) for Princeton. But that wasn't to say Princeton didn't add a little excitement after the break.
Vaughn's layup with 16:18 to play in the game gave Rutgers a 43-30 lead, but Princeton went on a 7-0 run with four points from Cowher and a three-pointer by Casey Lockwood to cut it to a six-point game at 43-37 with 13:53 to play.
But after a Tiger timeout, Rutgers regained the momentum. Vaughn went on a 7-0 run of her own and Princeton was back down by 13. Two Prichard three-pointers sandwiched around an Ajavon bucket would cut the lead back to nine, but that was the last time Princeton had the deficit at single-digits.
Rutgers went on a 14-0 run, shutting out Princeton for five-and-a-half minutes to put away the contest with a 23-point lead.
NOTES
Meagan Cowher extended her double-digit scoring streak to 15 games, dating back to last season.
Ali Prichard's 12 points were her most since she scored a career-high 17 versus Harvard, March 4, 2005.
With 13 points tonight and 14 against NJIT Wednesday, Jessica Berry had back-to-back double-digit scoring games for the first time this season. Tonight also marked Ali Prichard's first back-to-back double-digit games of the season after 11 points against NJIT.
Princeton has hit 19 three-pointers in the last two games after hitting 11 against NJIT Wednesday, its most since Dec. 1, 2004 against Wagner. Princeton had made 30 threes in the seven games this season prior to the NJIT game.
Princeton got to the line 15 times tonight, compared to 14 for Rutgers. It was just the second time this season, first since the season-opening Wagner game, that the Tigers attempted more free throws than their opponent.
Richard Barron continued the streak of using a double-digit number of players this season, tapping 11 Tigers. The season high was 16 against NJIT.
The loss extends Princeton's skid against Rutgers to eight games as the Scarlet Knights took an 11-3 lead in the all-time series. Princeton has not beaten Rutgers since the 1977-78 season and is 0-8 all-time as the visitor.