PISCATAWAY, N.J. – After the pregame senior day ceremony, complete with the requisite flowers and framed jerseys here at the Louis Brown Athletic Center, it was time for the Rutgers women’s basketball senior class to show how it had compiled a 105-25 record and two Big East titles in four years.

Upon winning the opening tip, the Rutgers starting lineup – consisting of three seniors, a junior and a sophomore – milked 33 seconds off the shot clock before senior Essence Carson hit a jumper on a pass from senior Katie Adams.

Following the bucket, Syracuse, with two freshmen, a sophomore, a first-year juco transfer and a senior, raced to the other end of the court, when 12 seconds later, freshman Erica Morrow threw up an air ball from behind the 3-point line.

Three minutes into the game, Syracuse had yet to score, forward Chandrea Jones had picked up two fouls and Rutgers led the rebounding battle, 6-0.

And so it went throughout the game, which Syracuse lost 64-49. Rutgers, last year’s NCAA Tournament runner-up, used an experienced lineup and a 25-for-50 shooting performance, including 10-for-22 from the 3-point line, to blow past a young, overmatched Syracuse team, which shot 36 percent from the field.

‘I think it definitely helps, being experienced,’ Rutgers senior Matee Ajavon said. ‘I think everyone who plays, I think everybody on the team has game experience from this year, last year, you know, being under pressure. It definitely plays a great role.’

Carson and Ajavon led the way for Rutgers with 14 points apiece and totaled 15 of the Scarlet Knights’ 20 assists. For Syracuse, solid efforts by Morrow (15 points) and Jones (11 points) were not enough to overcome Rutgers.

In front of a sellout crowd of 8,079, the largest home crowd for Rutgers all year, the Orange faced one of its toughest environments of the season.

‘They were playing hard,’ Morrow said. ‘Some of their subs off the bench came in, and they were seniors. I guess the crowd tried to get excited and helped them make shots.’

Syracuse coach Quentin Hillsman said his team succeeded in slowing down Rutgers stars Epiphanny Prince and Kia Vaughn on the offensive end. The duo, which averaged a combined 24 points per game going into the game, finished with a combined 10 points and attempted only seven shots. But the RU seniors were quick to step in and fill the void.

After the game, Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer had high praise for the young Syracuse team. Her zone defense, she said, helped negate any of Syracuse’s individual players’ talents and held the Orange to fewer than 50 points for the first time all year.

‘There’s no way I wanted to play them in a man-to-man situation,’ Stringer said. ‘There’s no way. See, zones require a great deal more patience and execution. You can see the talents of the individuals when we play man-to-man, because you can isolate. No one’s going to touch Harris or Morrow.’

For Hillsman, who said he was happy with his team’s performance despite a disappointing loss, watching an experienced Rutgers team play on its home court provided a model for where he sees his club going as his young players mature.

‘We’re a program that’s trying to get to the level of a national championship, and this is great for us,’ Hillsman said. ‘I like fighting the crowds to get to the media. I like seeing 8,000 fans because I think it’s good for our game.

‘This is where we want to be. I’m excited. Because we want to win a national championship too. And now we know what we have to do to be a top five team.’

kbaustin@syr.edu

Published on March 2, 2008 at 12:00 pm