Sun Mar 30 18:09:44 2008

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Rutgers conquers Colonials

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Greensboro, NC (Sports Network) - Essence Carson scored 25 points as the Rutgers Scarlet Knights defeated the George Washington Colonials, 53-42, in the NCAA Tournament's Greensboro Regional semifinals.

Also scoring in double figures for second-seeded Rutgers (27-6) was Epiphanny Prince, who dropped in 12 points, while Kia Vaughn grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds. With the victory the Knights will hit the hardwood again on Tuesday night versus the UConn Huskies for the right to advance to the Final Four in Tampa.

The sixth-seeded Colonials (27-7), who lost to Rutgers by a score of 67-42 back in November at the Smith Center, were paced by Jessica Adair who tallied 16 points. Sarah-Jo Lawrence chipped in 10 points, but shot a mere 4-of-13 from the floor along the way.

George Washington had trouble shooting the ball from the field in the first half, missing all six chances beyond the arc and converting only 8-of-27 from the floor overall, en route to a 28-16 deficit at the break. The fact that the Colonials failed to get to the free-throw line in the frame didn't help matters.

Making just 2-of-11 attempts out on the perimeter in the second half also hurt the Colonials as they fell by 11 points on the afternoon.

The Scarlet Knights kept the door open for GW by shooting just 4-of-15 behind the three-point line, 9-of-18 at the charity stripe and turning the ball over 15 times in the contest.

Rutgers and UConn, both members of the Big East Conference, met two times earlier this season, with each squad winning on their home floor. The narrow 73-71 win at the RAC for the Scarlet Knights back on February 5 is still the only loss suffered by the top-seeded Huskies in 2007-08.