Knights blame selves for loss
Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA -- Had Tennessee won by a blowout or if Rutgers
had lost while playing its best, maybe Friday night's loss in the
women's NCAA Tournament semifinal would have been more palatable.
Instead, the 64-54 loss to the Lady Vols was a bitter pill because Rutgers just didn't play well with a national championship within its reach.
The Knights' offense, which has struggled at times this season, came up
short against one of the nation's top defenses, particularly inside
where center Tammy Sutton-Brown was just 2-of-10 from the field.
On the other hand, the defense that carried Rutgers all season
failed Friday night. In the first half, it allowed Tennessee to get
12 offensive rebounds for some easy putbacks, and in the second
half the Lady Vols got four easy baskets in a 13-3 run that broke
the game open.
"I was highly upset leaving the court because we did not lose
and we did not get beat by Tennessee," said junior Linda Miles,
one of three Rutgers players with 11 points. "We beat ourselves.
The first half the rebounding was so key.
"If we would have gotten some boards, who knows?"
Instead of a 28-26 Tennessee lead, Rutgers might have been up by
six or eight.
The hard part to swallow was in the second half, when Tennessee
got its running game going and opened a 49-39 lead with 7:55 to
play.
The run featured an uncontested layup down the lane by Kara
Lawson, a layup by Michelle Snow after a no-look cross-court pass
by Kristen Clement, a baseline drive by Tamika Catchings and an
open 3-pointer by Catchings.
"There was a lot of miscommunication on defense, especially
with us being at the other end of the court," senior Usha Gilmore
said.
Sutton-Brown also couldn't explain what happened on defense.
"I don't know what to tell you," she said. "I guess we
blinked. Coach is always telling us we can't blink for 40 minutes
straight and I guess we blinked."
Coach C. Vivian Stringer said her team played tight in its first
Final Four appearance. She also admitted Rutgers was exhausted
after a week which saw it win the West Regional on Monday night in
Portland, Ore., and then not arrive home until 1 a.m. on Wednesday.
"I was probably more disturbed with the way we came in,"
Stringer said. "I just thought for the first however many minutes
we did not play like we are capable of playing."
Rutgers will lose two key players from its lineup, seniors
Shawnetta Stewart and Gilmore.
"I'm glad our team got to this point," Stewart said. "I wish
we could have played better. I'm glad I got this experience in my
hometown. I'm very disappointed now but I'm happy I got to play
with this team and with these coaches."
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