(Guru's Note: We were down here in Philadelphia handling Temple's successful bid for the A-10 top seed after tying George Washington for first. Stephen was on the scene again at Rutgers. Our story is in the Sunday print section and we'll blog more on events later. Here's Stephen's coverage. -- Mel)
By Stephen K. Lee
PISCATAWAY, N.J. – In front of a sellout Senior Day crowd of 8,079, the Rutgers women’s basketball team upped its game from the perimeter to down Syracuse 64-49 and give the seniors one final home win.
Rutgers honored Essence Carson, Matee Ajavon and Katie Adams with a pregame ceremony in which head coach C. Vivian Stringer and RU officials presented the trio with framed jerseys, flowers, roaring applause and hugs.
“Whether people realize it or not, they probably saw three seniors and perhaps some of the greatest players that have been here ever,” Stringer said after the game of the group that has amassed a 106-25 record over the past four years. “And beyond that, what they saw is three people who are better people than they are players.”
The No. 4 Scarlet Knights (24-4, 14-1 Big East) had some trouble pulling away from Syracuse (21-7, 9-6) early on despite the Orange’s struggle from the field. Then after Syracuse took an 18-16 lead with 5:27 left before halftime, Rutgers exploded on a 20-2 run that carried over into the second half to take firm control of the game.
With Syracuse’s strong zone defense limiting Rutgers’ inside attack at the outset, the Scarlet Knights had to win the game from the outside. Rutgers was 10-of-22 from 3-point land while Syracuse managed just 6-of-22 from the same distance.
“I think they’re really good,” said Syracuse head coach Quentin Hillsman. “If they make the three like that, they’ll win a lot more games. They’ll be playing in Tampa.”
Adams, who has embraced her reserve role over the years, made her 13th career start and the crowd greeted her with enormous cheers. She totaled five minutes on the floor and accounted for two offensive rebounds and one assist.
Syracuse guard Erica Morrow said that she could tell the Scarlet Knights were pumped for the game.
“They were in front of their home crowd and it’s Senior Day, so it’s a day to celebrate their seniors. You know they were playing hard.”
Carson and Ajavon each scored 14 points to lead the way for Rutgers. Carson also tied a career-high in assists with eight. Ajavon dished out seven helpers of her own and connected on four of seven 3-point attempts.
Though the seniors shined before their final home audience, sophomore Brittany Ray was the Scarlet Knights’ surprise hero. She netted 13 points off the bench to tie a season best and she drained three shots from beyond the arc.
Ray credits the seniors for pushing her to always do her best.
“The three of our seniors, they’re just amazing people, not even on the court, but off the court,” Ray said. “They’ve shown me so much and they’ve helped me grow as a person.”
“They’ve been a great inspiration and they will continue to be. I’m just glad I’ve had the opportunity to play with them through the years and just know them as people.”
After the game, Carson shared her feelings on the game she, her teammates, and her coaches have been trying to avoid considering the end of an era.
“Now that the day’s here, it’s real different,” Carson said. “You can’t even put it into words. Sometimes it’s just hard to think about it as being our last game here at the RAC. So, we just try not to think about it. We understand that we still have a postseason left and we still have a game on Monday that finishes out the regular season.
“But to play our last game here means a lot, especially to see the fans turnout and those closest to us be here for us and with us as they were in the beginning and just to pull it out for Coach Stringer, not only for ourselves."
Stringer shared that she’s been trying to ignore the fact that she loses her three leaders at the end of the season.
“I should tell you there’s a lot more pressure on me and no doubt a lot of pressure on them because last year when we played, I always knew that I still had them back,” she said. “And to me it’s more than the winning of the games. It’s really difficult for me to detach myself from them emotionally.”
Stringer broke down in tears when she started to think about a Scarlet Knights team without Carson, Ajavon, or Adams.
The Scarlet Knights will close out their regular season Monday when they face conference rival UConn for the second time this season. The game will be played at the Hartford Civic Center and televised on ESPN2 with a 7:00 p.m. tipoff.
Rutgers has beaten top-ranked Connecticut and a second win means the Big East regular season title. It also could mean much more in terms of the NCAA tournament, a discussion that needs to be put on hold until the final tally arrives in Hartford.
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