Dec. 6, 2005

Box Score

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - The Providence College women's basketball team opened the BIG EAST Conference schedule against 6th-ranked Rutgers on Tuesday, December 6 at Alumni Hall/Mullaney Gymnasium in Providence, R.I. Providence held a, 31-25, halftime lead, but Rutgers would pull away with eight minutes left the second half to earn a 58-45 victory.

The Friars were led by freshman guard Chelsea Marandola (Johnston, R.I.), who scored a team-high 14 points. She added five rebounds, one assist and one steal. Fifth-year Friar senior Gayle Nwafili (Maplewood, N.J.) added 11 points, four rebounds and four assists in the effort. The Scarlet Knights were led offensively by three players in double figures. Michelle Campbell led all scorers with 21 points. Cappie Pondexter netted 16 points, while Essence Carson contributed 11 points.

In the first half of play, Rutgers got out to an early 9-3 lead over the first 4:33 of action. The Friars slowly chipped away at the Scarlet Knights, and managed to tie the game, 19-19, with 7:23 left in the half. Providence earned it's first lead of the game (21-19) with 6:50 remaining on a Nwafili lay-up. PC pushed it's lead to as many as eight on two occassions. At 3:31, PC led 29-21 and with 1:03 left in the first half, the Friars held a 31-23 lead. Rutgers got within six points at halftime on a lay-up from Sammeika Thrash with 16-seconds on the clock.

Rutgers started the second half with a 13-4 scoring run over the first 5:12 of play to take a 38-35 lead. Rutgers pushed it's lead to six points (44-38) with 11:07 remaining in the game, but PC scored two unanswered baskets to cut the deficit to two (44-42) with 10:13 to play. Both teams were scoreless over the next 2:20 until Campbell netted one of two free throws at the 7:53 mark to give Rutgers a three-point lead (45-42). From that point, Rutgers closed out the game on a 13-3 scoring run to earn the 13-point victory (58-45). Rutgers' 13-point margin of victory was the largest lead for either team in the contest.

Providence College (1-7, 0-1 BIG EAST) returns to action on Saturday, December 10 against in-state rival University of Rhode Island. The game will be played at URI's Ryan Center in Kingston, R.I. and will tip-off at 2:00 p.m. Additionally, the game will be televised live on COX Sports Television (COX3).