University of South Florida
at Rutgers
Stokes Leads USF Past Rutgers, 59-56
January 31, 2009 | Women's Basketball
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The Bulls (16-6, 3-5 Big East Conference) survived one final comeback by the Scarlet Knights (12-7, 4-4) when Epiphanny Prince's running 25-footer banked off the backboard and rolled off the rim.
Janae Stokes added 20 points for South Florida.
The Bulls seemingly took total control with a 28-4 spurt bridging the halves and then fell apart in the final five-plus minutes as Rutgers ran off 17 straight points, tying the game at 56 on a 3-pointer by Brittany Ray.
Grace missed the front end of a one-and-one with 47 seconds to play, giving Rutgers a chance to take the lead.
However, the Scarlet Knights, who went long stretches with points in the game, could not get off a shot and turned the ball over on a shot clock violation with under 16 seconds to play.
Grace broke the Rutgers' press -- which had been so lethal in the comeback -- and drove the lane for an off-balance layup, giving the Bulls their final lead and their first win over Rutgers in four tries.
Grace finished with nine points on 2 of 8 shooting.
Prince had 25 points to lead Rutgers, including 10 in the 17-0 run. The Scarlet Knights were coming off an upset of No. 17 Notre Dame earlier this week. It was their first win over a ranked team this season.
