Senior Essence Carson scored 18 points and collected 10 rebounds to push No. 5 Rutgers past Georgetown by a score of 57-47 on Tuesday evening at McDonoughArena. Carson went 6-of-7 from the field and connected on a career-tying best three 3-pointers for the eighth time in her career.

Sophomore Myia McCurdy and senior Matee Ajavon added 11 points each.

The Scarlet Knights (14-2, 4-0 Big East) won for the ninth straight time, their longest win streak since the 2005- 06 (13 games).

With a 13-point halftime lead, Rutgers extended the advantage to 38-23 on a three-pointer from Carson with 15:59 showing in the second half.

The Hoyas (10-6, 0-3) cut the lead to 10 points twice over the next nine minutes. After a free throw by Monica Mc- Nutt pulled GU to 46-36, Rutgers responded with a runner by Epiphanny Prince and an offensive put-back from Kia Vaughn to push the difference to 14 (50-36) with 6:31 remaining.

Georgetown clawed back, using a 7-0 run to make it a seven-point (50-43) game with 1:40 left. RU went nearly five and a half minutes without a field goal over the period.

A weak-side put-back from Heather Zurich ended the drought and gave Rutgers a 54-45 edge with just over a minute to play. The Scarlet Knights went 5-for-6 in the final minute from the charity stripe to win their ninth straight.

The Scarlet Knights scored the first six points and stretched the advantage to 20-11 following a 3-pointer by Carson at the 7:40 mark. With that basket, Carson was outscoring the Hoyas team, 13-11.

Rutgers went up by double digits on the next possession and maintained it for the remainder of the half. McCurdy scored nine of her 11 in the first stanza, including a string of seven straight.

The Scarlet Knights entertain the Louisville Cardinals on Sunday, Jan. 20. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. at the Louis Brown Athletic Center. The game will be nationally televised on ESPNU.

Rutgers offensive linemen Pedro Sosa and Jeremy Zuttah will participate in the East-West Shrine game Saturday at 7 p.m. in Houston. The game will be televised on ESPN2.

In all, six players from the Big East Conference have been selected to participate in the game. Rutgers is the only school in the conference to have multiple players in the East-West Shrine game.

Sosa and Zuttah have also been invited to the NFLScouting Combine Feb. 20-26 in Indianapolis.

For the first time since 1998, Rutgers will have a player in the East-West Shrine game. It marks only the second time in school history the Scarlet Knights have had two players play in the game. The last time two Scarlet Knights participated in the East-West Shrine game was 1996 (Marco Battaglia, Bruce Presley).

Former NFLcoach Dick Vermeil will be the head coach for the East in the game.

Rutgers junior free safety Courtney Greene (New Rochelle, N.Y.) has announced he will return to Rutgers for his senior season. The two-time All-BIG EAST defensive back ranks eighth in Rutgers history in career tackles with 299 after leading the Scarlet Knights in tackles last season with 101.

"I have decided to return to Rutgers for my senior season in 2008 to completemy degree and football career," saidGreene. "There is unfinished championship business for us to take care of here at Rutgers."

Greene was the team leader in tackles for the Scarlet Knights in 2005 as a true freshman and last year as a junior.

"I am pleased that Courtney is returning to Rutgers to complete his degree and finish his career in 2008," said Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano. "I look forward to big things from Courtney as a leader both on and off the field next season.

The Rutgers wrestling team, under the guidance of first-year head coach Scott Goodale, went 1-1 in matches against Army and the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA) on Sunday afternoon at Christl Arena in West Point, N.Y. RU (4-5, 2-2) pulled out a 21-12 victory over USMMA(5-4) before falling 27-10 toArmy (7-4, 4-1). Army defeated USMMA 38-3 to win the tri-meet.

"I was very disappointed," said Goodale. "I thought we took a step backwards this weekend. I felt we had a good opportunity to win some bouts but we didn't. We did not win any of the close matches, especially against Army, and that was the key in our loss."

In the first match against USMMA, Keith Dobish opened the scoring with a 6- 0 decision over Troy McGuinness. The Mariners won two of the next three as Lamar Brown (Red Bank) fell 10-4, DJ Russo won 18-2 and Ryan Jablonski lost in overtime 9-7.With the score 7-6 in favor of Rutgers, the Scarlet Knights reeled off three straight wins to take a commanding 18-6 lead. Dan Hilt (Manalapan) earned an 11-4 decision, Steve Adamcsik earned a 15-7 major decision and Jack Barrett (Metuchen) narrowly defeated Dan Twito 5-4. Jamie Lijo and Matt Rigoglioso (Wayne) both fell in their bouts, 4-3 and 6- 4, butMikeWhalen defeated Justin Diesel 6-1 to close out the 21-12 win.

Against Army, the Scarlet Knights fought valiantly, but were unable to come up with a victory until the eighth bout. Dobish and Brown both fell in tight contests, 3-2 and 7-4, respectively. Karim Mahmoud and Jablonski were then pinned to give the Black Knights an 18-0 lead. Hilt, Adamcsik and Barrett all dropped their bouts to make the score 27- 0, but Rutgers would regroup to win the final three contests. Chris Norrell defeated Sean Joyce 8-2, Matt Pletcher earned a 10-2 major decision and Whalen won for the second time of the day, 6-4 over Dean Gaier.

"We definitely have some work to do," said Goodale. "We have to get back to the drawing board and work hard to get ready for Brown and Franklin & Marshall. We need to be tougher and we need to be better in certain spots."

The Scarlet Knights return to the mat on Saturday, Jan. 19, when they host Brown and Franklin & Marshall. The trimeet will get under way at noon; Rutgers will wrestle at 2 p.m. and then at 4 p.m. Admission is free to the public.