Loss to St. Joe's closes curtain on Waters era
Rutgers women rout TCU, reach Sweet 16
BY MIKE McDONALD
Staff Writer

The Gary Waters era at Rutgers University quietly came to an end on March 16 as the Scarlet Knights fell to St. Joseph's in the second round of the NIT.

Rutgers cut a 17-point, second-half deficit to six, but its comeback fell short, as the Scarlet Knights lost to finish the 2005-06 campaign at 19-14, and 7-9 in the Big East.

As he had all season, junior guard Quincy Douby led the way, scoring a game-high 30 points and setting the single-season scoring mark (839 points) for the Scarlet Knights.

"We played well in the first half, but we did not shoot the ball well in the second half," said Waters, who was clearly disappointed with the loss.

"We defended very hard. My hat goes off to them [St. Joe's]," he said. "We just couldn't score. We held them to 34 percent from the field in the second half, but we couldn't hit our shots. We missed open shots and couldn't hit our foul shots. We forced Quincy to try do it all."

While Douby did his best to carry his team, it simply wasn't enough. However, the junior's effort earned one last piece of praise from the outgoing coach.

"Quincy is the best offensive player I have ever coached," Waters said. "He has great natural instincts and can create his own shots."

Rutgers had much more success in the opening round of the NIT, as they defeated Penn State by the final score of 76-71, as Douby scored 32 points and drained eight 3-pointers.

"Douby is an excellent shooter. He puts a lot of loft on the ball but it still goes in. That is a sign of a great shooter," said Waters.

Rutgers built a big lead early in the second half. Along with Douby's excellent outside shooting, Rutgers was also led by guard Marquis Webb who scored 17 points and was the defensive catalyst in the win.

"Marquis Webb is the best defender in the Big East," Waters said.

"I was really focused. I shot the ball real well. I became really confident. Everyone had a hand in this victory," said Webb.

After the loss to St. Joe's, Waters admitted that it has been an emotional couple of weeks for him.

"This week has been very emotional. I met with the team and told them I love them. I will meet with the team later in the week also," Waters said.

Looking ahead, the Rutgers men's program has an unclear future. On top of finding Waters' replacement, the entire RU community is hoping that Douby decides to return for his senior season.

Douby has been named to the collegeinsider.com All-America team, finishing this season as the seventh-leading scorer in the nation at just over 25 points per game. Douby led the oversized and extremely talented Big East Conference in scoring with 27 ppg. He was also recently named to the First-Team All-Big East.

Without Douby, Rutgers would likely have an awfully tough time repeating the success of this year, and the upward progression of success it has had over the past few seasons.

One thing is for sure, Douby's return would certainly make the transition to a new coaching regime at Rutgers smoother for everyone involved.

TCU no match for Rutgers women

Following a slow start in the NCAA Tournament, the Rutgers women found their stride on Tuesday night.

After struggling against Dartmouth in the first round, the Scarlet Knights responded with a dominant second-round performance against Texas Christian on Tuesday, cruising to an 82-48 win at the Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton.

Third-seeded Rutgers (27-4) dominated 11th-seeded TCU (19-12) in every facet of the game, and as a result, advanced to the Sweet 16 for the second straight year, and the eighth time overall in program history.

The Scarlet Knights will face the second-seeded Tennessee Volunteers in the regional semifinals Sunday. The game will tip off at either 12 p.m. (ESPN) or 2:30 (ESPN2) p.m. Tennessee had little trouble disposing of George Washington, 66-53, in their second round game on Tuesday night.

With the Scarlet Knights' victory against TCU, Rutgers head coach C. Vivian Stringer picked up her 750th win in her 1,000th Division I game as a head coach (750-250). She joined Tennessee's Pat Summit (909-175) and Texas' Jody Conradt (882-292) as the only Division I women's coaches to reach the milestone.

Against TCU, the Scarlet Knights featured a balanced attack as all five starters scored in double figures for first time all season. Cappie Pondexter again led the way, putting on a show by shooting 7-of-11 (.636) overall from the floor and 5-for-6 (.833) from beyond the arc to finish with a game-high 24 points. Pondexter also dished out six assists while pulling down four rebounds.

Newark's Matee Ajavon shot 7-for-10 from the field for 18 points. She also dished out a career-high 13 assists and added five rebounds in 36 minutes of action for her first double-double of the season, and second of her career. Classmate Essence Carson, of Paterson, made seven of 12 attempts for 14 points.

Rutgers and Tennessee last met in the 2005 NCAA Tournament Philadelphia regional final, a 59-49 Tennessee victory. The winner of this Sunday's matchup will face the winner of the North Carolina-Purdue contest in the Cleveland Region final on Tuesday at either 7 p.m. or 9 p.m.