By Five Boro Sports
Epiphanny Prince dropped in 26 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and had four steals to help lead No. 7 Rutgers to a 57-51 victory over No. 10 Virginia Commonwealth in the first round NCAA women’s basketball tournament in the Oklahoma City region at the RAC Saturday. It was her first double-double of the season.
The former Murry Bergtraum star scored 10 points during a decisive 12-4, second-half run, which she got started with a three-point play. Kia Vaughn, a former St. Michael Academy standout, added 13 points. Rutgers (20-13) moves on to play No. 2 Auburn, which beat No. 15 Lehigh, in the second round on Monday night. Virginia Commonwealth is 26-7.
Former Christ the King star Tina Charles dropped in 32 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for No. 1 Connecticut (34-1) in a 104-65 win over No. 16 Vermont (21-12) at Gampel Pavilion in the Trenton region Sunday. Lorin Dixon, also a former Royal, added three points and four assists.
The Huskies entered the tournament as the fourth undefeated team in school history. UConn moves on to play No. 8 Florida in the second round Tuesday.
Carrem Gay, another former Christ the King star, scored eight points on four-of-seven shooting for No. 1 Duke during an 83-42 win over No. 16 Austin Peay (17-16) at the Breslin Center in the Berkeley region. Duke advances to play No. 9 Michigan State in the second round Tuesday.
Another former CHSAA player, Maria Laterza, who played for Bishop Kearney, was held scoreless, but grabbed two rebounds in six minutes for No. 12 Marist (29-4) in a 68-61 win over No. 5 Virginia at the Galen Center on Saturday.
Another No. 1 seed, Maryland, got help from former St. Michael Academy standout Anjalé Barrett. She scored three points, dished out five assists and grabbed four rebounds in 21 minutes during an 82-53 win over No. 16 Dartmouth (18-11) for the Terrapins (29-4) at the Comcast Center in the Raleigh region. They move on to play No. 9 Utah in the second round Tuesday.
Stanford also had an easy go of it with help from Melanie Murphy, who played at Midwood. She scored four points and had one assist and one rebound in 12 minutes of play in an easy, 74-39 win over UC Santa Barbara (22-10) at Cox Arena in the Berkeley region Saturday. Rosalyn Gold-Onwude, a former Archbishop Molloy standout went scoreless, but had two rebounds and an assist in 11 minutes for Stanford (30-4), which moves on to play No. 10 San Diego State on Monday.
