Feb. 2, 2008

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Rashidat Junaid came off the bench to quickly score 10 points down the stretch with Pitt star Marcedes Walker out with an injury, and No. 4 Rutgers rallied from eight points down in the second half to beat the No. 14 Panthers 64-60 Saturday.

Junaid, a 6-foot-4 sophomore proved a difficult matchup problem with Pitt's best inside player out, scoring four consecutive baskets during a game-altering 15-1 run that allowed Rutgers to turn a 51-46 deficit with less than seven minutes remaining into a 61-52 lead.

Matee Ajavon scored 15 points, Epiphanny Prince added 14 and Junaid had 11 points and 6 rebounds despite playing only half the game. Rutgers (18-3, 8-1 in Big East) bounced back from a 63-54 loss at No. 12 West Virginia on Tuesday.

Junaid sealed the comeback by making a free throw with 20.4 seconds left after Pitt had gotten back to within three points, and Pitt missed twice in its final possession before the clock ran out.

Shavonte Zellous scored 20, Mallorie Winn had 16 and Xenia Stewart 15 but Pittsburgh (17-4, 7-1) faltered in the final four minutes and was denied the first win in school history against a Top 10 opponent. Pitt's loss left No. 1 UConn as the only Big East unbeaten team and ended the Panthers' 11-game winning streak, one shy of matching the school record set last season of 12 in a row.

Pitt has won only nine of 115 games against ranked teams in its history and is 1-3 this season - promoting coach Agnus Berenato to get on the public address system seconds after the game ended to promise the fans Pitt would play the full 40 minutes in its next game, not just 36.

The 6-3 Walker appeared to injure an ankle while landing hard under the Rutgers basket while going for a rebound with 36 seconds left in the first half, just before Pitt took a 30-23 halftime lead. Walker was helped off the court and didn't play again, and her absence proved critical when Junaid began taking over.

Walker, averaging 14.6 points and 10.3 rebounds, had five points and six rebounds in 17 minutes before getting hurt.

Rutgers coach Vivian Stringer is five victories shy of 800 in her coaching career, but this certainly is a difficult way to get there. As if the Knights' schedule wasn't tough enough with successive road games against two teams ranked in the top 14, consider this: their next two games are against No. 1 Connecticut at home Tuesday and No. 2 Tennessee on the road Feb. 11.

Stringer is 25-1 against Pitt while at Rutgers, Iowa and Cheyney. Rutgers has won 13 in a row against Pitt and 22 of 23 and is 6-0 against Berenato-coached Pitt teams, winning by an average margin of 20.2 points until this game.