March 30, 2008

GREENSBORO, N.C. - George Washington clawed back from a 16-point first-half deficit to within 46-42 with 3:40 remaining, but Rutgers' Essence Carson scored seven of her game-high 25 points in the final minutes to down the Colonials, 53-42, in the NCAA Tournament Greensboro regional semifinal Sunday.

Junior Jessica Adair scored a team-high 16 points on 7-of-14 shooting for GW, which finishes its season at 27-7 after reached the Sweet 16 for the second consecutive season and fourth time in program history. Senior Sarah-Jo Lawrence added 10 points, followed by seven from junior Antelia Parrish, six from senior Whitney Allen and three points and five assists from senior Kimberly Beck.

No. 2-seed Rutgers moves on to face top-seeded Connecticut in the Greensboro region final Tuesday.

The senior quartet of Beck, Allen, Lawrence and Lora Mitchell finish their careers as the second winningest class in school history, posting a 101-29 record in their four seasons.

Parrish and Beck hit consecutive three-pointers to cut GW's margin to five and Parrish knocked down a free-throw line jumper to make it a one possession contest, 33-30, with 14:18 remaining.

Rutgers answered with a 7-0 run in a span of one minute 30 seconds to reopen a 10-point cushion, 40-30, at the 12:24 mark.

GW battled back, holding Rutgers without a basket for over five minutes and baskets by Allen, Jessica Adair and Lawrence to move within four points, 42-38, with 5:56 to play. The Colonials twice answered field goals from the Scarlet Knights to move to 46-42, but Carson converted a three-point play for a seven-point edge, 49-42, and hit four straight free throws in the final 1:38 for the final margin.

Jessica Adair hit two early shots to give GW a 6-2 lead at the under 16 timeout, but Rutgers went on a 20-2 run over the next eight minutes to pull ahead 22-8 with 6:52 left in the half.

The Colonials had just one field goal in a span of 10 minutes as the Scarlet Knights maintained a 14-point edge until a Lawrence driving lay-up brought the deficit to 12 points, 28-16, with 1:31 to play in the period. Jessica Adair was 4-of-10 with eight points in the first half, while the rest of the team shot just 4-of-17.