Rutgers weekend round-up

While the Rutgers men’s basketball team saw a rare weekend go by with no games, the women’s team traveled to Villanova, Pa., Saturday night to face the Wildcats at the Pavilion. For the second straight game, the No. 23/23 Scarlet Knights (17-7, 10-3) picked up a big win on the road over a Big East opponent, downing the Wildcats 62-32, a season-low point total for Villanova.

Junior Essence Carson led Rutgers with 16 points in addition to 12 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the season. Heather Zurich (career-best 13 points, Matee Ajavon (10) and Kia Vaughn (10) also notched double-figures for the Scarlet Knights, who now have just three regular-season games remaining before the conference tournament.

It was a busy weekend elsewhere for Rutgers sports teams, as both the baseball and softball teams took to the diamond for the first time this spring. The baseball team snagged the last two games of a three-game set against William & Mary on the road, including a 9-8 come-from-behind effort in the rubber match Sunday. Senior third baseman Tim Querns led the way with a 3-for-5 performance with four RBIs. Junior shortstop Todd Frazier moved into a tie for sixth place on Rutgers’ all-time home run list as he sent the 23rd of his career out of the park Sunday.

The softball team had a harder time this weekend, losing five total games at the Aggie Classic on the campus of Texas A&M this weekend. The Scarlet Knights faced Texas-San Antonio, Texas A&M, and Arkansas, nearly salvaging the final game against the Lady Backs after a Mallory Miller two-run home run in the sixth inning of the eventual 8-6 defeat.

On the track, the men’s and women’s indoor track and field teams competed this weekend at the BIG EAST Championships in Akron, Ohio. The men’s team finished fifth overall, while the women took 13th. Rutgers’ Marcel Coleman was named the Most Outstanding Track Performer of the event with his first-place finish in the 60-yard dash. His time of 6.81 seconds tied his previous school record, while the senior also took second in the 200-meters, stopping the clock at 21.49 seconds.

Rutgers also saw conference competition reach its peak in the water, as both the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams traveled to Hempstead, N.Y., for the BIG EAST Championships. The women’s side saw three new school and conference records, taking second place in the meet, while the men took seventh. The women’s 400 freestyle relay team of Madison Kennedy, Ashley Dunphy, Cat Whetstone, and Sarah Bicknell set a new conference record of 3:20.34, taking first place.

To round out the packed weekend, the Rutgers men’s and women’s tennis teams also saw competition. The women’s team (3-3, 1-1) split the weekend series, defeating Providence 7-0 on Saturday for its first BIG EAST win before dropping a 7-0 match-up to Brown Sunday. The men’s team (0-1) dropped its home opener against the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) by a score of 4-3 Friday, Feb. 16 at the East Brunswick Racquet Club.