Stephen F. Austin
Rutgers
Women's Hoops Falls To Rutgers in NCAA First Round
3/17/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
March 17, 2001
By TOM CANAVAN
Sports Writer
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Tasha Pointer set an NCAA women's tournament record with 18 assists, and Rutgers started its road back to the Final Four by beating Stephen F. Austin 80-43 in a first-round game on Saturday night.
Tammy Sutton-Brown added a career-best 25 points as fourth-seeded Rutgers (23-7) advanced to the second round of the West Regional on Monday night against fifth-seeded Southwest Missouri State (26-5) and Jackie Stiles, the all-time leading scorer in NCAA women's basketball.
Stiles was knocked out of Southwest Missouri State's 89-71 win over Toledo in the opening game at the Rutgers Athletic Center when she ran into a screen with about 10 minutes to play.
Brian Mahaffey, a Southwest Missouri State team doctor, did not say whether Stiles suffered a concussion but he said she would be fine.
The Lady Bears will need her with Rutgers suddenly back on track after coach C. Vivian Stringer put the team through a week of double practices to prepare for Stephen F. Austin (26-7).
Pointer's 18 assists broke the women's record of 17 set twice by Suzie McConnell of Penn State in the 1980s and matched by Melinda Schmucker of Texas Tech against Grambling on March 13, 1998.
Pointer's record-breaker came on a pass inside to Sutton-Brown in the closing seconds.
Karlita Washington added 19 points, and Pointer and Linda Miles had 12 apiece as the Scarlet Knights of the Big East Conference put on an awesome first-half performance in taking a 37-12 lead.
Latisha Prater led Stephen F. Austin with 10 points. The Ladyjacks' starting lineup combined for 24 points.
The Ladyjacks entered with the nation's second-best scoring defense at 54.4 points a game, but Rutgers, which was seventh at 56.8, showed them a few things.
Rutgers, which was beaten by Tennessee in the national semifinals last season, never trailed after Miles and Davalyn Cunningham scored four points apiece in a game-opening run of 10-0.
Stephen F. Austin, appearing in its 14th straight NCAA tournament, closed to 10-7 before Sutton-Brown scored eight points in a 14-point run that gave Rutgers breathing room it never lost.
