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Off and running Third-seeded Rutgers routs No. 6 seed Arizona 90-47
Posted: Sunday March 14, 1999 11:51 PM
PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) -- The way Rutgers is playing, the Sweet 16 isn't going to be enough this year. Shawnetta Stewart scored 11 points in a game-opening 29-7 run that led Rutgers to a 90-47 win over Arizona on Sunday night and its second straight berth in the round of 16 under coach C. Vivian Stringer. "We don't want to be the jewel of the East, we want to sit as high as we can and be everything," said Stringer, whose team lost to three-time defending champion Tennessee in the third round. "Hopefully this game will bring us one game closer to having the confidence to do that." The third-seeded Knights (28-5) shot 58 percent from the field, forced 26 turnovers and led by as many as 45 points in advancing to the Midwest Regional semifinal in Normal, Ill. Rutgers, which shared the Big East Conference regular-season title, will play the winner of Monday night's game between second-seeded Texas Tech and 10th-seeded North Carolina State. "It seems as though we are peaking, and what better time to peak than in the tournament," said point guard Tasha Pointer, who led the Knights with 18 points. "We've gotten over the bad games, we got the jitterbugs out. I think playing at home helped. We're playing with a sense of urgency and experience. We know what level we have to play at, and we're playing at that level." The 47 points were a season-low for sixth-seeded Arizona (18-11), which lost for only the third time in its last 12 games. The previous low was 48 against Nebraska. "I think they are one of the best teams in the country," Arizona point guard Lisa Griffith said. "We played Purdue and we played Auburn and they are definitely up there." Stewart and Tomora Young added 16 apiece for Rutgers, which won for the 18th time in 20 games. The point total was the least allowed by the Knights in their NCAA tournament history, covering 22 games. The 43-point margin of victory was their largest in the tournament. Arizona of the Pac-10 never found an answer for Rutgers' 2-3 matchup zone, either inside or outside. "I think they can do a lot of damage in the tournament with their zone," Griffith said. "If you are not shooting the ball well, it's really tough. if you can't get into transition they are really tough to play." Forward Angela Lackey, who scored a career-high 29 points as the Wildcats rallied from a 17-point second-half deficit to beat Florida in overtime on Friday, had 12 on Sunday -- most of them in the final minutes. Reshea Bristol, who had 20 points Friday, got just five Sunday. Much like its first-round game against Dartmouth, Rutgers started quickly. Tammy Sutton-Brown converted a three-point play, and Pointer scored on a backdoor layup for a 5-0 lead after 54 seconds. Lisa Griffith got Arizona on the scoreboard with a 3-pointer, but Sutton-Brown, who had 13 points and nine rebounds, put in a third-chance rebound and Young hit two baskets to push the lead to 11-3. Leading 16-7, the Knights scored 13 straight points. Pointer put in a rebound and a wide-open 3-pointer to get it going, and Stewart finished it with two straight 3-pointers and a baseline jumper. Rutgers led 41-22 at the half, and the Knights opened the second half with a 17-2 run, making 7-of-9 shots, including five straight. Arizona, which had no seniors in the starting lineup, lost guard Felecity Willis to a shoulder injury with 9:58 to play. She had 8 points. | |||||||||||||||||||||
