No. 10 Rutgers 63, Seton Hall 41

1/14/2006 7:22 PM

PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) - Michelle Campbell decided to give Seton Hall a reason to guard her.

Campbell scored 12 of her game-high 16 points in the second half to lead No. 10 Rutgers to a 63-41 win over the Pirates on Saturday.

``A lot of opponents focus on Cappie (Pondexter) and Matee (Ajavon), so a lot of the time, my (defender) slides off,'' Campbell said. ``That leaves me room to operate underneath.''

Ajavon added 13 points and seven assists for the Scarlet Knights (12-2, 4-0 Big East). Pondexter had a season-low 13 points on 4-of-10 shooting, nine points below her team-high average.

But Pondexter focused on Heta Korpivaara, holding the Pirates' second-leading scorer (11.5 points) without a basket (0-for-5). Rutgers is allowing an average of 53.6 points, best in the Big East.

In four home wins, the Scarlet Knights have held opponents to 44.7 points per game.

``I don't like being scored on, to be honest with you,'' Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer said. ``I'd rather beat you 21-3 than 100-75, because I just don't like being scored on.''

Monique Blake had 15 points and nine rebounds for Seton Hall (5-10, 2-2). Brittney Messina added 12 for the Pirates, who shot 29.8 percent from the field.

``We had several opportunities to cut their lead, but we missed a couple shots and they hit theirs,'' Seton Hall coach Phyllis Mangina said. ``And they were giving us some. We had so many open looks.''

The Pirates played the Scarlet Knights close in the early going. They held a three-point lead midway through the first half before Campbell hit a jumper to spark a 17-0 Rutgers' run. Ajavon had 10 points in the spurt, which ended with the Scarlet Knights ahead 30-16.

The Pirates went on an 8-0 run to end the half.

Seton Hall never got closer than four points in the second half. The Scarlet Knights, winners of four of their last five, ended the game with a 14-0 run.