Scarlet Knights Prepare for Tennessee in National Championship Game
Apr 02 | Women's Basketball
CLEVELAND, Ohio - The NCAA women's basketball national championship game on April 3 at Quicken Loans Arena will pit two of the greatest coaches in the sport's history against each other, when Rutgers and C. Vivian Stringer face Tennessee and coach Pat Summit.
Between the two, there have been 1723 victories in 69 seasons of coaching. Many consider it appropriate, then, that the two are squaring off for the national title on Tuesday at 8:30 p.m.
"It's appropriate - that's the team it should be. Anything short of that probably is like, 'Well you didn't go through mighty Tennessee,' "Stringer said. "So you know we get a chance to play them and if we're not good enough, we're not good enough. If we're good enough, you'll find out Tuesday night. You'll know."
Stringer likens the contest with the Lady Vols to a cerebral board game.
"It probably is a chess match. She has her pieces, and I have my pieces, and we're trying to, at the right time, make the move. There will be moves and countermoves," said Stringer. "Basketball is a game of chess. You just don't throw it out there randomly hoping and reacting. You hope to make a move and cause someone to else to react -- you look at the players you put in, and you consider what you need to do with that."
For the Scarlet Knights (27-8), it will be their first ever appearance in the national championship game.
"Pat has won a lot of times. I really would like to know what it feels like (to win the national championship) and I don't need her to tell me what it feels like," said Stringer. "I want to experience it myself."
The matchup in the national championship game will mark the 16th time Rutgers and Tennessee have met, including six in the NCAA Tournament. Tennessee holds a 12-3 edge all-time against Rutgers, including 5-0 in the NCAA Tourney. In the most-recent post-season matchup, the Scarlet Knights met the Lady Vols in the Elite Eight in the 2006 Cleveland Regional, with Tennessee taking a 78-69 win here despite 24 points from Matee Ajavon.
Rutgers advanced to its first-ever national championship game with a 59-35 win over LSU in the first semifinal game on April 1. Ajavon and classmate Essence Carson combined for 31 points, and the Scarlet Knights converted 10-of-20 from three-point range.
The Scarlet Knights' stingy defense held the Lady Tigers to its lowest output of the season, and also the lowest point total by team in the history of the Final Four. Rutgers limited LSU to 26.4 field goal percentage, also a Final Four record.
The Scarlet Knights have limited opponents to 44.6 points in their five NCAA contests. In addition, opponents have shot just 29.7 percent from the field and 26.3 percent per game from long range versus RU's smothering defense.
In preparation for the championship game, the Scarlet Knights met with the media at various news conference settings, and also conducted practice sessions at the Quicken Loans Arena on Monday.
