ST. THOMAS, U.S. Virgin Islands (November 28, 2009) – Rutgers women’s basketball dropped a 70-67 decision to No. 13/14 Texas on Saturday night in the final game of the 2009 Paradise Jam held at the University of Virgin Islands. The Longhorns (4-2) broke a 67-67 tie with a baseline three-pointer by Kathleen Nash with 1.7 seconds remaining.
Rutgers (4-3) was declared the winner of the Reef Division of the 10th annual Paradise Jam by virtual of a tie-breaker and senior Brittany Ray (Bronx, N.Y.) was selected the tournament Most Valuable Player. Ray, who scored 13 of her game-high 17 points in the second half, averaged 18.7 points in the three-day tournament. Sophomore Chelsey Lee (Miami, Fla.) was tabbed o the all-tournament team.
The Scarlet Knights trailed by 12 (47-35) with 12:31 remaining after UT started the second half on a 15-2 run. Nash capped the run for the Longhorns with an offensive put-back. Behind the play of Ray and the team’s stingy defense, Rutgers mounted a comeback. The Scarlet Knights forced the Longhorns into five straight turnovers while scoring 13 unanswered points. Ray tallied nine of the 13 over the nearly three-minute span and finished the run with an old-fashioned three-point play to give Rutgers a 48-47 edge with 9:43 to play.
Texas would move ahead by as many as five, lastly on lay-in by Brittany Raven with 4:35 remaining to make it 59-54. Rutgers responded with six consecutive points to again overtake the lead. Khadijah Rushdan (Wilmington, Del.), playing in her first contest since Nov. 22, scored four of the six with the go-ahead basket coming on a steal and subsequent lay-up with 2:57 showing to make it 60-59 Rutgers.
The teams traded points over the final two minutes with three ties highlighting the ferocious battle. Rutgers went ahead by two (64-62), matching its largest lead of the game, on follow shot by Lee with 1:14 left in the game.
The race to the end was on as Texas scored twice in a 20-second span to take a 66-64 lead. After Lee hit one of two from the free throw line with 33.1 seconds left, Rutgers fouled Fontenette- who made the second of two from the stripe- to stretch the Longhorns lead to 67-65 with 18.3 seconds left.
Ray dribble-drove into the paint and into traffic, weaving it up and under to tie the contest at 67-67 with 7.6 seconds left. UT got the ball downcourt and found an open Nash on the far right baseline for the win.
Freshman Monique Oliver (Las Vegas, Nev.) finished with a season-high 13 points and nine rebounds.
