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Rushdan, Speed lead Rutgers to upset of Georgetown

Mar 8, 2010 - 4:46 AM By DOUG FEINBERG AP Basketball Writer

HARTFORD, Conn.(AP) -- Nikki Speed remembered Rutgers' double overtime loss in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament last season. She wasn't going to let it happen again.

Speed hit two crucial 3-pointers, including one with 2.2 seconds left to force a second overtime, and Chelsey Lee scored 17 points to lead Rutgers to a 63-56 victory over No. 12 Georgetown on Sunday night in the quarterfinals.

"All of us kept saying we're not going home," Speed said. "Last year we played double overtime and lost. The only thing going through our minds was we wanted to win."

The Scarlet Knights advanced to the semifinals where they will face No. 7 West Virginia on Monday night. The Mountaineers beat DePaul 47-41.

Speed also banked in a 3 in the second overtime that gave Rutgers (19-13) a 56-51 lead with 2:55 left.

"I called it," Speed said, laughing. "Coach makes us call our shots in practice and I called that one."

After a layup by Sugar Rodgers cut the Hoyas' deficit to three, Rutgers scored six straight points, capped by Khadijah Rushdan's three-point play with 49 seconds left to seal the win.

"That was a gutsy win," Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer said. "We as a coaching staff couldn't be prouder."

Rodgers finished with 20 points for the Hoyas (25-6), who were bidding to win their first Big East tournament game since 2001. Tia Magee added 12 for Georgetown.

"I thought our kids played extremely hard. It was a tough game," Georgetown coach Terri Williams-Flournoy said. "Shots didn't fall like we needed them to fall. I'm very proud of my young ladies. It was an extremely tough loss but we still have the NCAA tournament."

Rutgers knew all about the tough loss, having fallen to Louisville in double OT last year.

Rushdan finished with 14 points for Rutgers, which missed its first six shots in overtime before Speed's 3-pointer. The Scarlet Knights had made just one of their first 18 3-pointers before the sophomore's shot.

Magee and Rodgers hit layups in the first overtime to give Georgetown a 50-46 lead with 22 seconds left. Monique Oliver hit two free throws to cut the deficit to two.

After Shanice Fuller hit one free throw to make it 51-48, Speed came through for Rutgers.

Trailing by two with 12.9 seconds left in regulation, Lee hit two free throws to tie the game. Georgetown had a chance to win at the end of regulation, but the Hoyas missed two shots in the final seconds. Jaleesa Butler's 5-footer was short and Rodgers' off-balance fling at the buzzer wasn't close.

Rutgers advanced to the quarterfinals with a 70-49 victory over Cincinnati while Georgetown had a bye to that round by finishing third in the conference.

Magee hit a jumper and Monica McNutt converted a three-point play to tie the game at 42 with 4:17 left. McNutt had missed her first nine shots.

Rodgers then scored on a putback and was fouled. She missed the free throw.

"You have nights like that," McNutt said. "Shots we usually hit weren't falling. Rutgers is a slow paced team. Tonight they controlled the tempo a little more than we did."

Georgetown built a 15-4 lead 12 minutes into the game as Rutgers started 2 for 10 from the floor with 11 turnovers. The Hoyas held the Scarlet Knights without a field goal for nearly 8 minutes before Lee's three-point play with 6:28 left in the half made it 15-7.

Rutgers kept clawing back and was down 23-19 at the half as Georgetown hit just 20 percent from the field (6 for 30) by the intermission.