ATHENS, GA – Fourth-seeded Rutgers (21-8) was unable to overcome a 27-10 difference in personal fouls as the Scarlet Knights lost at fifth-seeded Georgia (21-9) 74-64 in the NCAA Tournament’s second round March 24.

Rutgers trailed 29-25 at halftime as the Lady Dogs scored 10 first-half points from the free-throw line (10-14). RU shot the ball better in the first 20 minutes (10-29 compared to 8-25), and were within one rebound of the much taller Bulldogs (20-19) at the break, but were whistled for six more fouls (11-5).

Georgia’s lead ballooned to 12 (39-27) less than five minutes into the second half, but the Scarlet Knights fought back to within two (54-52) with 4:15 on the clock. Georgia scored a layup at the 3:08 mark to pull ahead 58-52. That would by the Dog’s last field goal of the game, as they scored their final 16 points from the charity stripe. When senior Mauri Horton (Minneapolis, MN) fouled out at with 2:18 to play, the Rutgers bench was issued a technical foul for not substituting for Horton in the allotted time, and Georgia made all four of its free throws to extend its lead to 10 (64-54) and essentially put the game out of reach. With the foul count at 22-6 with 1:08 to play, Rutgers began to purposely foul in order to get the ball back, but in the process sophomores Cappie Pondexter (Chicago, IL) and Chelsea Newton (Monroe, LA) joined Horton and Rebecca Richman (Bronx, NY) on the bench with five fouls apiece, and RU ran out of outside shooters to attempt a comeback.

Newton led RU with 19 points and four steals, while Pondexter added 15 points and a team-best seven assists. Junior Dawn McCullouch (Long Beach, CA) contributed 11 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Horton, in her final game as a Scarlet Knight, had six tallies.

Official Basketball Box Score
Rutgers Scarlet Knights vs Georgia Lady Bulldogs
03/24/35 7:14 PM ET at Stegeman Coliseum -- Athens, Ga.
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VISITORS: Rutgers Scarlet Knights 21-8
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
15 HORTON, MAURI....... *  2-7    2-6    0-0    0  1  1   5   6  1  2  0  0  18
25 PONDEXTER, CAPPIE... *  7-14   1-3    0-0    0  5  5   5  15  7  5  0  0  39
32 NEWTON, CHELSEA..... *  7-11   2-5    3-4    2  3  5   5  19  1  2  0  4  40
35 McCULLOUCH, DAWN.... *  4-16   0-1    3-5    5  2  7   2  11  0  2  0  2  35
55 RICHMAN, REBECCA.... *  1-3    0-0    0-1    2  2  4   5   2  0  0  3  0  11
00 HURNS, SHALICIA.....    4-7    0-0    0-1    5  1  6   3   8  3  1  1  0  31
03 LOCKE, COURTNEY.....    0-2    0-2    0-0    0  0  0   1   0  0  0  0  0   5
22 PETILLON, AMBER.....    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  1  0  1   5
34 CAMPBELL, MICHELLE..    0-1    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   1   0  0  0  0  0  10
52 CAHOE, AQUISHA......    1-3    0-0    1-2    1  1  2   0   3  0  0  0  0   6
   TEAM................                         1  4  5
   Totals..............   26-64   5-17   7-13  16 19 35  27  64 12 13  4  7 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-29 34.5%   2nd Half: 16-35 45.7%   Game: 40.6%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  2-5  40.0%   2nd Half:  3-12 25.0%   Game: 29.4%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  3-6  50.0%   2nd Half:  4-7  57.1%   Game: 53.8%    3

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HOME TEAM: Georgia Lady Bulldogs 21-9
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
03 LYCETT, MARY BETH... *  3-8    3-7    0-0    0  3  3   1   9  5  2  0  0  36
04 THOMAS, CHRISTI..... *  6-12   1-1    4-6    2  6  8   2  17  0  1  0  0  37
11 BAKER, SHERILL...... *  1-7    0-0    3-4    3  3  6   1   5  3  1  0  0  24
31 KENDRICK, ALEXIS.... *  3-9    1-5   10-10   2  1  3   3  17  6  4  0  2  37
42 DRISKELL, MARQUITA.. *  2-5    0-1    0-2    1  4  5   1   4  0  1  1  0  21
02 TAYLOR, TINA........    1-1    0-0    3-4    0  0  0   0   5  1  1  0  0  17
13 PIERCE, JESSICA.....    0-1    0-1    0-0    0  1  1   0   0  0  0  0  0   6
33 FRYE, KATIE.........    0-0    0-0    0-0    2  2  4   0   0  0  1  0  0   6
44 FELDER, EBONY.......    4-4    0-0    9-12   1  2  3   2  17  1  1  0  0  16
   TEAM................                         1  3  4
   Totals..............   20-47   5-15  29-38  12 25 37  10  74 16 12  1  2 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half:  8-25 32.0%   2nd Half: 12-22 54.5%   Game: 42.6%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  3-11 27.3%   2nd Half:  2-4  50.0%   Game: 33.3%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 10-14 71.4%   2nd Half: 19-24 79.2%   Game: 76.3%    5

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Officials: Dennis DeMayo, Scotty Hermann, Deborah Allen
Technical fouls: Rutgers Scarlet Knights-TEAM. Georgia Lady Bulldogs-None.
Attendance: 3047
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
Rutgers Scarlet Knights.......   25   39  -   64
Georgia Lady Bulldogs.........   29   45  -   74

Points in the paint-RU 22,UGA 22. Points off turnovers-RU 11,UGA 12.
2nd chance points-RU 18,UGA 12. Fast break points-RU 0,UGA 0.
Bench points-RU 11,UGA 22. Score tied-3 times. Lead changed-2 times.
Last FG-RU 2nd-00:57, UGA 2nd-03:08.