No. 6 Rutgers conquers Cal

Kia Vaughn had 13 points and 15 rebounds to help sixth-ranked Rutgers beat No. 11 California, 56-51, last night in Piscataway, N.J.

Matee Ajavon scored 15 to lead Rutgers (7-2). Brittany Ray added 11 for the Scarlet Knights, who ended Cal's four-game winning streak.

Ashley Walker scored 14 for the Golden Bears (8-2).

Trailing by 33-25 early in the second half, Cal went on a 13-4 run to take a 38-37 lead on Devanei Hampton's free throws with 13 minutes, 47 seconds left.

Down by one, Vaughn scored six of the Scarlet Knights' next eight points as they built a 45-40 advantage.

For the second straight game, Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer did not use her usual starters. Coming off a disappointing loss at Duke on Thursday, Stringer had benched her starting five Saturday in a win over Army.

"I thought the backups could set the tone for the game, and they did," said Stringer after the win over Army. "I thought I'd try something different."

Stringer used the same strategy last night, and the Bears could build only a 6-3 lead against the Scarlet Knights' reserves.

When the regular starters came in four minutes into the game, Rutgers took over.

Still 1-2. Tennessee and Connecticut remained 1-2 in the AP top 25 after an easy week, while North Carolina moved up two places to No. 3 with its 60-point win over Wofford.

The Volunteers got 48 of the 50 first-place votes for the second week in a row after their 83-51 win over Old Dominion. UConn got the other two first-place votes after routing Virginia, 75-45, while 12 of the 25 teams held the same spot from last week.