Vaughan, Prince too much for VCU

The VCU women’s basketball team has seen many firsts this season. Possibly the most memorable of these firsts was their first ever NCAA tournament bid.

As the 10-seed in the Oklahoma City region, the Rams received a very difficult draw in the first round as they were slated to face national powerhouse Rutgers, on the Scarlet Knights’ home floor in Piscataway, N.J.

The Rams hung with Rutgers in the first half, but the seven-seed proved too powerful, as VCU fell, 56-49.

After falling behind 8-1 in the early minutes, the Rams finally got their first field goal at the 16:30 mark on a Radoslava Bachvarova (Varna, Bulgaria/Daytona Beach C.C.) 3-pointer.

From that basket, VCU proceeded to go on a 12-3 run, taking its first lead, 13-11.

For the remainder of the half, VCU was aided by foul trouble for Rutgers center Kia Vaughan who went to bench with two personals.

With Vaughan on the bench, Quanitra Hollingsworth (Chesapeake/Great Bridge) and the Rams took over in the rebound column and stayed step for step with Rutgers into halftime.

In the second half, Vaughan returned and the Scarlet Knights flexed their muscle inside as the Rutgers senior went on her own 6-0 run to push the lead to six.

Then, the game became the Epiphanny Prince show. Prince is Rutgers’ leading scorer, averaging 19.7 points per game. After only eight first half points, Prince looked to take over the game.

The Scarlet Knights would go on a 24-8 run from that point, Prince scoring 16 points during that stretch.

Rutgers jumped to its largest lead of the game at 55-37.

However, VCU was not quite ready to head back to Richmond.

The black and gold answered with a fast and furious 12-0 run before being forced to send Rutgers to the foul line in the final minute.

Time ran out for VCU and the Scarlet Knights were able to close out the win on their home floor.

Hollingsworth dropped 16 points to go along with 11 rebounds, charting her 18th double-double of the season. Bachvarova also finished with 16.

For Rutgers, the combination of Prince and Vaughan scored more than half of their total points. Prince, scoring a game-high 25 to go along with 11 rebounds. Vaughan poured in 13, but her final stat line did not truly reflect her dominance in the low block. That, along with Prince’s big day, was a key to the Rutgers win.

With the win, the Scarlet Knights move on to play Auburn in the second round Monday.

The Rams finished the 2008-09 campaign with a 26-7 record. That mark ties the program record for wins in a season. The NCAA tournament appearance was only the VCU women’s second postseason tournament appearance since 1995. Their other came last season in the WNIT.

By the Numbers

Rutgers (20-12)

Prince 25, Vaughan 13, Ray 6, Rushdan 5, Zurich 2, Junaid 5, McCurdy, Speed, Pope, Lee, Sykes. 21 12-22 56. 3-pointers: Prince, Ray.

VCU (26-7)

Hollingsworth 16, Bachvarova 14, Rorie 9, Waller 6, Lane, Taylor 2, Patterson, Hurt 2, Solomon. 20 7-15 49. 3-pointers: Bachvarova 2.