Once again, the MSU women's basketball team couldn't find an answer for Kia Vaughn.
After a dominating 14-rebound performance when the two teams met in January, Vaughn struck again Tuesday night.
The Rutgers sophomore center was all over the floor, scoring 16 points with eight rebounds, six blocks and four steals as the No. 4-seed Scarlet Knights bounced the No. 5-seed Spartans, 70-57, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at Breslin Center.
Rutgers head coach C. Vivian Stringer said that Vaughn's play brought a tentative team out of its shell.
"As Kia came, she brought that fire," Stringer said. "She's an incredible athlete, one of the only people I know that can block shots and get so involved on the defensive side and not get in foul trouble."
MSU (24-9) got off to a good offensive start, as senior guard Victoria Lucas-Perry provided the punch, scoring four of her game-high 17 points in the opening minutes while grabbing several rebounds and sparking MSU to a 12-7 lead.
Vaughn then took over on both ends of the floor, scoring 12 of Rutgers' next 25 points, while not allowing the Spartans to get anything inside, as the Scarlet Knights (24-8) stormed back and took a 32-25 lead into halftime.
"I was excited at halftime," said MSU head coach Joanne P. McCallie. "I thought we did some real good things, but we just couldn't get over the hump."
Many in the crowd of 8,056 in attendance tried to get the Spartans going after a bucket by senior forward Myisha Bannister, but Rutgers guard Matee Ajavon came right back down the floor and quieted the crowd with a jumper from the top of the key. That sparked a 7-0 run by the Scarlet Knights as they opened up a 13-point lead, 42-29.
MSU looked like it might make a run after freshman center Allyssa DeHaan knocked down her first field goal with 12:42 remaining in the half.
Her basket, combined with amped up defensive pressure, sent MSU on a 7-0 run of its own.
But as close as MSU seemed at points, it couldn't close the gap.
After two Rutgers free throws, Stringer called a timeout that seemed to settle her team down, or, at the very least bring, it some luck.
Up by eight, the Scarlet Knights tried to burn the clock. On three separate possessions, Rutgers hit 3-pointers with the shot clock winding down, the third 3-pointer by guard Brittany Ray from the corner, put her team up 55-44 with 4:43 remaining, effectively ending the Spartans season.
"That's like hitting a five-pointer," McCallie said of the late threes.
"You're playing great defense, you're right there to get that stop and you don't. They hit some critical 3s given the shot clock timing."
The Scarlet Knights shot a perfect five-of-five from three-point range in the second half.
Although Rutgers did not score another basket after that, it scored 11 points from the free-throw line to seal the deal. Rutgers knocked down 24-of-29 shots from the charity stripe.
"What was key for us is that we hit free throws," Stringer said. "Before, it was a matter of rebounding. I thought we did a great job the first time we played them, but this time it was free throws."
McCallie said she was proud of her team for the effort they showed.
"It's just so sudden to finish out and not feel great about it," she said.
"In the long run, the team will be very proud of the things they've done this year."
Matt Bishop can be reached at bishop20@msu.edu.
