No. 6 Rutgers 60, Villanova 37

3/5/2006 5:46 PM

By DONNA TOMMELLEO
AP Sports Writer

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer popped a few Motrin before her team took on Villanova in the Big East conference tournament Sunday.

She knew what was coming - an excruciatingly slow pace and a headache.

She got both, but the sixth-ranked Scarlet Knights also logged a 60-37 win over the Wildcats to advance to the semifinals.

``There is no question that Villanova is the team that we most dread to play,'' Stringer said. ``I'm glad we were able to be victorious, because they really wear you out.''

The Wildcats trademark deliberate offense kept the pace sluggish and the scoring low for the first 20 minutes. Rutgers senior guard Cappie Pondexter changed all that in the second half.

Pondexter scored 20 of her 24 points after the break to lead the top-seeded Scarlet Knights (25-3). They'll play 12th-seeded West Virginia (14-15) in Monday's semifinal.

Rutgers' center Kia Vaughn also came up big in the second half, grabbing 13 of her game-high 14 boards and adding three blocked shots. The inside-outside combination of Pondexter and Wright helped the Scarlet Knights pick up the tempo.

``I know what I can do. This is my fifth year. I know what to do,'' Pondexter said. ``I've been through this. The score was definitely too close, and I had to dominate and I just took it upon myself. ``

Betsy McManus led the eighth-seeded Wildcats (19-10) with 11 points and finished 3-of-8 from 3-point range.

The Scarlet Knights are coming off their second straight regular-season title, but are looking for their first tournament crown.

Rutgers led 17-13 at the break before turning to Pondexter, the Big East player of the year, to spark the offense. Teammate Essence Carson, the conference defensive player of the year, shut down Liad Suez-Karni, the Wildcats scoring leader. She finished 0-for-9 from the field and never got to the free throw line.

``Essence takes great pleasure in creating zeros on anybody that she plays,'' Stringer said.

With Rutgers leading 21-17, Pondexter scored six straight points in a 60-second span with 16:11 remaining. It was all the cushion the Scarlet Knights would need.

McManus hit a 3 and Jackie Adamshick's runner with 13:27 left got the Wildcats within seven. But Pondexter countered with a pair of layups and a 3-pointer while the Rutgers' defense, the best in the nation at 51.3 points allowed per game, did the rest.

``We were kind of accomplishing what we wanted to do, keep the game low scoring. I don't think we were generating enough looks at (3-pointers),'' Villanova coach Harry Perretta said. ``We are not going to score a lot of field goals, we need to score more 3s. We really didn't do that throughout the game.''

Matee Ajavon finished with 10 point and three steals for the Scarlet Knights. Essence Carson and Vaughn combined for 16 of Rutgers' 36 defensive boards. The Scarlet Knights outrebounded the Wildcats 49-23 and outscored them 22-8 in the paint.

No one was more relieved when the final horn sounded than Stringer.

``I'm so grateful to get that game over,'' Stringer said. ``I think the team would rather play Duke, Connecticut and Tennessee all back-to-back or in one week than Villanova. I took 600 milligrams of Motrin before the game and the headache is still coming through.''