Carson Powers Rutgers to 53-42 Win Over George Washington
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Media Release March 30
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Senior Essence Carson (Paterson, N.J.) matched a career-high with 25 points to pull Rutgers to a 53-42 victory over sixth-seeded George Washington in the Greensboro Regional semifinals of the 2008 NCAA Women's Basketball Championship.
The second-seeded Scarlet Knights (27-6) will face the top-seed Connecticut, a 78-63 winner over Old Dominion. The contest is slated for a 9:00 p.m. tip on ESPN with a Final Four berth on the line. The meeting will be the third of the season for the BIG EAST rivals.
Carson went 9-of-15 from the field and grabbed seven rebounds for Rutgers. Sophomore guard Epiphanny Prince (Brooklyn, N.Y.) was the only other Scarlet Knight in double figures with 12 points. Junior center Kia Vaughn (Bronx, N.Y.) corralled 11 rebounds.
Jessica Adair led the Colonials (27-7) with 16 points.
The lead see-sawed in the first eight minutes of play with GW closing to two (10-8) following a lay-in by Whitney Allen. Rutgers responded by making seven of its next 11 field goal attempts and putting together a 16-2 run to take a 26-10 lead with 4:06 to go before the break. The spurt included seven points by Carson.
RU led 28-16 at the half.
The teams traded points to start the second before a jumper by Prince stretched the advantage to 33-20 with 18:51 remaining. The Colonials closed the gap with a 10-0 run. A 12-footer by Antelia Parrish cut the deficit to three (33-30) with 14:18 showing.
Rutgers answered with a triple from sophomore Brittany Ray on the left side and made it an eight-point game on a kiss off the glass by Carson. The lead moved back to 10 (40-30) for Rutgers after a fast-break lay-up by Prince which was commenced from a steal and an assist from senior Matee Ajavon.
The Colonials pulled to 46-42, following an offensive put-back by Adair at the 3:40 mark. Carson stepped by, draining a 13-footer from the left side for two-plus the foul to give RU a 49-42 lead with 3:20 to play. GW would not score again.
Rutgers shot over 50 percent for the third straight game, posting a 51.3 percent showing on the afternoon.