GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) -- Good Knight, Rutgers! C. Vivian Stringer and her scrappy Scarlet Knights are headed to the Final Four.
Kia Vaughn had 17 points and 10 rebounds while dominating the paint to power Rutgers to a 64-45 victory over Arizona State on Monday night in the Greensboro Regional finals, clinching the Scarlet Knights' second trip to the national semifinals.
Matee Ajavon had 20 points, Essence Carson added 11 and Epiphanny Prince had 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Scarlet Knights (26-8), who led by 24 and held a 48-26 rebounding advantage in winning their seventh straight.
Now it's on to Cleveland, where they will face either LSU or Connecticut from the Fresno Regional on Sunday in the Final Four.
The fourth-seeded Scarlet Knights (26-8) almost saw their season end Saturday when top-seeded Duke had a chance to win it in the final second. But ACC player of the year Lindsey Harding missed two free throws with 0.1 second left and Rutgers escaped with a stunning 53-52 upset.
The youthful Knights -- who have five freshmen and no seniors on the roster -- had no trouble dodging a letdown, thoroughly dominating third-seeded Arizona State and pulling another upset to reach the Final Four for the second time and first since 2000.
The players hammed it up at midcourt, dancing as they donned championship caps and T-shirts while thanking the several hundred fans who made the trip to Tobacco Road.
Stringer, the first coach to lead three programs to the Final Four, is headed to college basketball's biggest stage for the fourth time.
This deep tournament run came with a Rutgers team that became the lowest seed to reach the Final Four since 2004, when both fourth-seeded LSU and seventh-seeded Minnesota advanced that far.
This game was supposed to be a rematch of a November game in the Virgin Islands, but the game was canceled when the 15-year-old brother of Sun Devils forward Aubree Johnson died of an enlarged heart, and players and coaches from both sides credited fate with setting up this matchup.
Rutgers used tough defense to take command, holding Arizona State to one field goal during the first 8 1/2 minutes of the second half.
The Scarlet Knights gradually increased their lead with a basket here and a free throw there, all the while using occasionally relentless full-court pressure to turn the tables on the press-minded Sun Devils.
Prince's foul shot gave the Scarlet Knights their first double-figure lead of the game, 39-29, with 13:11 to play, and it never got much tighter after that.
Kirsten Thompson pulled Arizona State to 41-32 on a turnaround jumper moments later, but Rutgers reeled off three straight baskets: a 3-pointer by Prince, a turnaround jumper from Vaughn and a jump shot by Carson that made it 48-32 with 8:51 left and all but sealed it.
Briann January had 12 points in returning to the starting lineup after suffering a concussion for the Sun Devils (31-5), who advanced deeper into the tournament than any other team in school history. Before this season, Arizona State had never made it past the round of 16 in three tries.
The Sun Devils reverted to the poor shooting that plagued them in the first two rounds of the tournament. Arizona State, which shot just 36 percent in wins over UC Riverside and Louisville, was optimistic after making more than half of its shots against Bowling Green.
But those struggles returned when they could least be afforded, with Rutgers holding the Sun Devils to 32.7 percent shooting.
The Scarlet Knights asserted themselves late in the first half, scoring 11 straight points as part of a 17-4 run. Ajavon keyed the surge, scoring five straight points to start the spurt and giving Rutgers the lead for good with a 3-pointer from the left wing that made it 17-16 with 11:43 left.
Rutgers fans can purchase tickets for the Final Four in Cleveland through the Rutgers Ticket Office beginning Tuesday morning at 8:30 p.m.. Fans can call 1-866-445GORU or visit the ticket office at the Louis Brown Athletic Center. For Cleveland area information, visit www.womenrockcleveland.com.
POSTGAME NOTES
WITH THE WIN…
Rutgers advanced to its second Final Four in school history, both of which have come under the direction of head coach C. Vivian Stringer. The Scarlet Knights improved to 28-17 in the NCAA Tournament (2-4 in Elite 8 games). The win also gives Rutgers its first seven-game win streak of the season.
SCARLET KNIGHTS WIN WITH DEFENSE
Rutgers is holding its opponents to an average of 47.0 points per game, the second-lowest average of any team defense entering the Final Four. Only LSU's 2005 team limited its opponents to a lower points-per-game average, 44.0 ppg.
The 45 points allowed in Monday's Elite 8 contest tied for the sixth fewest points in a Regional game (semifinal or final).
GREENSBORO COLISEUM GOOD TO RUTGERS
The 2006-07 women's basketball team became the second Rutgers team to advance to the Final Four after winning at the Greensboro Coliseum. The men's team was the first to move on to the Final Four after defeating VMI 91-75 on March 20, 1976 at the Coliseum.
RUTGERS DEFENSE QUIETS ARIZONA STATES' HOT OFFENSE, TOP SCORER
Arizona State, a team which averaged 73.2 points per game entering Monday's Elite 8 match-up, was limited to a season-low 45 points. The 19-point loss was also the Sun Devils' worst defeat of the season. ASU's previous low was 55 points, which came in a 62-55 loss to Stanford on March 5.
Arizona State's top scorer, Emily Westerberg was held well below her season points-per-game average by a stingy Rutgers defense on Monday. Westerberg, who averages 13.5 points per game managed just four points.
VAUGHN, AJAVON SET THE TONE EARLY
Sophomore center Kia Vaughn and junior guard Matee Ajavon led the Scarlet Knights at halftime with 11 and 10 points, respectively. It's the ninth time this season that she has scored in double figures before halftime and 30th double-digit scoring game of her career. Vaughn finished 17 points.
For Ajavon, who finished with 20 points, it was the fourth time this season she posted double-digit points before the halftime break. It was also her 61st double-figure scoring game of her career, 17th of the season.
AJAVON DROPS TWENTY, SETS CAREER HIGH
Junior guard Matee Ajavon led the Scarlet Knights in scoring for the seventh time this season (six of last ten) with 20 points against Arizona State. It was her 14th career 20-point game and the seventh time in the last ten games. Ajavon's nine made free throws set a career high, eclipsing her previous mark of seven which she set on four separate occasions. She is averaging 16.7 points per game in the 2007 Women's Championship.
PRINCE POSTS SECOND CAREER DOUBLE-DOUBLE
Freshman guard Epiphanny Prince scored 10 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for her second career double-double. Prince is the only first-year player to record a double-double this season. The 10 rebounds ties a career-best which she set against Ole Miss on Dec. 12.
VAUGHN NOTCHES DOUBLE-DOUBLE
Sophomore forward Kia Vaughn scored 17 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in the team's Elite 8 victory over Arizona State. It was her 14th double-double of her career and 11th of the season.
RU ON FIRE FROM THREE
In the first half of Rutgers' Elite 8 match-up with Arizona State, the Scarlet Knights shot 3-of-3 from three-point range. It was the first time this season RU has been perfect from outside the arc in a half.
SCARLET KNIGHTS TAKE THE LEAD RIGHT OUT OF THE GATES
Rutgers connected on a pair of three pointers to open the game against Arizona State and took a 6-0 lead. RU improved to 16-1 on the season when scoring the games' first points.
McCURDY DOES IT AGAIN
Freshman forward Myia McCurdy extended her streak of consecutive games scored to 13 with XX points against Arizona State. The current stretch is the second-longest (Epiphanny Prince, scored 34 straight games) of any other first-year player on the squad.
POSTGAME QUOTES
Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer
Opening Statement…
Who would have thought it, that's the way you would start. Who would believe that we're here from where we have been. We're still kind of pinching ourselves. In North Carolina… amazing. I couldn't be more proud or happier for this group of young women who have worked so hard. I bet they are going to remember what it means to work hard, to believe that things were going to come together in time and it's just a great time that it did come together. Coaching staff I can't thank enough. My coaching staff is just great. I mean they can tell you if someone blinked, if they moved their leg to the right. We are extremely well-prepared and I am very blessed to have so many coaches and players and managers and support people that just make my life very special. This has been a most rewarding year.
I know I've said to you before that we were struggling at the beginning and we are here now because of where we started from. I began to see their hard work — little things like the timing of a screen and the appreciation of the execution of the game. That was our way as coaches to be paid back and appreciated when the players say 'yeah, you taught us something and we appreciate it.' This has been a heck of a ride and I have a feeling that these young ladies want to do some things when we get to Cleveland so we want to get back and get some rest and soak it all in. I haven't even had a chance to appreciate Michigan State and Duke and all that yet. I know that we are all going to get some time. Our athletic director promised to buy us all steaks so we're going to sit back and enjoy our steaks and reflect.
Where does this rank on your list of considerable personal achievements, considering you've been in the game for over three decade?
This has to be right there at the top, if not the top. I say that because I have never worked with a group of young people that have had to come from such a great distance. In effect, this was a completely depleted team that we had to mold from scratch. If you think about it Heather (Zurich) is just a sophomore and you may as well say you had two people to work with Mat (Matee Ajavon) and E (Essence Carson). Matee wasn't even on the floor. She didn't get back to us until mid-November or December, so it was just Essence Carson and Kia Vaughn who had a vision.
Nobody else had a clue and most often they had people standing from the side painting a picture for them. They had all these other thoughts, 'was it worth it; there are all these other programs.' And it was kind of distracting, especially when things were so tough. They were thinking, 'what did we come here for? We're losing. The coaches are on us'. It was hard. As far as having things demonstrated, there were no upperclassmen to show anything.
Essence starts off playing the point guard and that's not her position, she had played the four the year before. But it speaks to the tremendous flexibility this young woman has. She would do anything to help this team. Then you have Epiphanny Prince, who everybody says 'you score; you don't play any defense.' That's why her greatest moment was that steal to get the final bucket. She loves defense, but you have to tell her everything. She is extremely bright, as are all of these guys. They have been able to transfer their success in the classroom, because as a freshmen group they have like a 3.0. Sometimes they don't make a lot of basketball sense, but one thing that they do is that they work hard and listen. I can honestly say that I have never molded a team. It wasn't me; it was all of my outstanding coaches to help bring it together. A lot of it was fear because they were so afraid of the losses and so embarrassed. We decided to get it together and see if we can't make some things happen and so this is one of the special ones.
Do you still see this as a team of destiny?
Yeah, we have been a team of destiny. We were supposed to play in the beginning of the year (against Arizona State) and we've maintained contact. It seems only appropriate that we were the least likeliest of teams to be in this particular spot. I really do believe that our steps are ordered. We have been a team of destiny and some wonderful things have happened and I think that somehow the Lord above has really provided for us this season and I will always believe that.
Can you talk about how Matee has come along this season considering she hasn't been able to work out the past two summers due to injury?
I think Matee and (our staff) have been frustrated all year. She has been overweight for the vast majority of the year and she keeps thinking she can do things. But she's like 15 to 20 pounds overweight and so she gets frustrated about it. She had to accept the fact that she wasn't where she was before, which was unfortunate. For the past two summers, she's been invited to play for the USA national team, but she hasn't been able to play because by April 2nd or 3rd, she has a boot on her leg. She and I are actually having the same surgery where we are going to be in a cast for six weeks (this coming summer), but she needs to run on her leg and I don't. I have a feeling that if she can get out of her cast early, that this next year will be her finest.
Rutgers Student-Athlete Quotes
Kia Vaughn
What was it like being the biggest and strongest person out on the court?
I wouldn't say the biggest because there was a 6-6 girl out there and I wouldn't say strongest because they were pretty strong, too. We put up a good fight. I had the advantage because I just kept working. They didn't let me get anything easy and I just kept working hard. I had elbows everywhere. I just had to be strong and take control within myself.
Matee Ajavon
If you could talk about the tough road you have had to get here against Michigan State, Duke and now Arizona State.
It prepared us mentally for every challenge and that's what we have been going through every year. I appreciate the opportunity to play in the NCAA tournament. I'm just happy at where we are and with the accomplishments we have achieved this year.
You have scored 20-plus points in seven on the last 10 games. What has been going on since you got rolling?
I don't know honestly. When postseason comes, it is a time for upperclassmen to step it up and really take charge. Past players have prepared me, Coach Stringer has prepared me, and my teammates have prepared me for the challenges. Essence Carson, Kia Vaughn and the other upperclassmen have also been stepping up, so credit to them also.
At what point did you say, "This is easy and we're going to the Final Four."
Easy? Nothing is easy. I don't think it was easy throughout the whole game. They did a great job pressuring the ball. They were one of the better defensive teams. All credit goes out to Arizona State.
Essence Carson
Aubree Johnson and Coach Turner Thorne both said they will be rooting for Rutgers. What does that mean to you?
It's good to hear that. They are a great team and they have a great coach, as well. They have been playing great all year and know what it is like to recognize great teams. To hear that coming from them feels good. It's hard because we don't want to get too high up and forget about where we came from. We have to continue to play like we've been playing. We need to play defense and continue believing in ourselves.
The team's reaction was more subdued. Was it because you expected this?
It was like a dream. We knew that if we stuck to our game plan and just continued to believe in ourselves that we could get it done. This entire run in the NCAA (Tournament) has been unreal. But, at the same time, we understand that all the hard work we put in brought us here. Our coaches have prepared us for this entire season. They told us that it doesn't matter where we came from. It's about where we are going. When the regional finals got here, it was as if there was no way we (could) turn back now. We also knew that in our hearts, that as along as we stay consistent, we can pull it off.
Looking back on where you were at the beginning of the season, could you have pictured being here now?
It was depending on whether we had enough heart to just push it through. At that point earlier in the season, it was either make or break with Duke and DePaul. We sucked it up and kept on going. In my heart, I really did believe we could do it. I could tell that if we could get it together, we could be really dangerous. Once everyone started to step it up on defense, that is when it started to become a reality.
