Tuesday, Feb. 1 7:30pm ET
Rutgers stops Old Dominion's streak
 
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PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) -- When the game is on the line, Rutgers turns to senior Shawnetta Stewart.

The Scarlet Knights (No. 12 ESPN/USA Today, No. 10 Associated Press) needed Stewart's leadership and foul shooting down the stretch Tuesday night to hold off No. 16 Old Dominion 58-50.

Shawnetta Stewart
Rutgers' Shawnetta Stewart puts up a shot between Old Dominion forwards Lucienne Berthieu, left, and Tiffany Thompson, right.

Stewart, limited by a sprained knee in Rutgers' last game against Seton Hall, had 15 points and a key steal in the final minute Tuesday night.

"We just had to keep the defense up and let the clock play for us," Stewart said. "We knew they could come back on us."

Old Dominion (14-4), which had a seven-game winning streak snapped, led much of the first half before Rutgers (14-4) closed with an 11-2 run for a 25-21 lead. Stewart had nine points in the first half, all in the final six minutes.

Rutgers opened the second half with an 11-4 run for a 38-28 lead which grew to 50-37 with 7:44 to play.

Rutgers had just one field goal over the last 8:29, but converted 8-of-12 free throws in that span. Old Dominion, with Lucienne Berthieu getting five points and Tiffany Thompson hitting a 3-pointer, got within 53-50 with 1:13 to play. But Stewart made a key steal and converted on four free throws in the final minute.

"We're not scoring a lot of points, but we're also not taking a lot of shots," Rutgers coach Vivian Stringer said after her team's third straight victory. "But I was pleased with our execution tonight. We need to score some more. We can't just rely on Shawnetta."

Rutgers center Tammy Sutton-Brown had 15 points and eight rebounds. The offense from Sutton-Brown hurt Old Dominion, which had no player taller than Berthieu at 6-foot-2 to match up with the 6-4 Sutton-Brown.

"Sutton-Brown was huge for Rutgers," Old Dominion coach Wendy Larry said, "and not just because she's so big. She pretty much had her way on the floor tonight. We played a box-and-one on Pointer and a triangle-and-two when Stewart was in there, and they found Sutton-Brown inside to counter us."

Rutgers, fourth nationally in scoring defense (53.6), slowed the high-powered Old Dominion offense, which had been scoring more than 80 points per game. The Scarlet Knights held Old Dominion to its lowest halftime total and its lowest game total of the season.

"We lost our composure against their defense and didn't get enough second shots on offense," Old Dominion guard Natalie Diaz said. "We knew about their defense and their aggressiveness, but we didn't hold the ball well and didn't get too many good shots."

Diaz led the Lady Monarchs with 14 points and Berthieu add 13 points and eight rebounds.

 


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