Rutgers Rutgers/Massachusetts UMass Women's College Basketball recap on ESPN

Tasha Pointer scored 22 points and Rutgers (No. 7 ESPN/USA Today; No. 7 Associated Press) reversed an eight-point deficit with an impressive run to beat UMass 78-57.

Rutgers (6-1) trailed 23-15 about 14 minutes into the game, but put together a 28-0 spurt to take control.

After Kathy Coyner's 3-pointer with 6:07 left in the first half, the Minutewomen (3-5) didn't score again for nearly 13 minutes. Their drought ended on Siiri Liivandi's basket 6:36 into the second half.

"In the beginning, I was disturbed," Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer said. "We had to make a lot of changes. That's why so many people were going in and out."

The changes worked. Tammy Sutton-Brown had eight of the first 10 points of the run, completing a three-point play that tied the game 23-23 with 2:03 left in the first half and adding the go-ahead bucket with 1:34 remaining.

Sutton-Brown had been held scoreless before she left the game after injuring her left ankle with 11 minutes remaining in the first half. But she returned less than five minutes later, and finished 6-for-8 from both the field and the free-throw line.

"We got a lot of good looks, but things weren't going our way," said UMass' Caroline Nehls, who scored 13 points.

"We didn't panic, we still had emotion with us. We were still trying to fight for every point."

UMass held a 37-20 rebounding advantage, but committed 28 turnovers, including 16 in the first half.

"We played a solid defensive game, but our offense led to their offense," Massachusetts coach Joanie O'Brien said. "Turnovers are a nightmare for me."

The Scarlet Knights outshot the Minutewomen at the free-throw line 24-12.

Coyner led UMass with 20 points. Karlita Washington scored 14 points for Rutgers, which won its fourth game in eight days.

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