Rutgers Women's Basketball Seeded Seventh In 2009 NCAA Championship
Mar 20 | Women's Basketball
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Making its 20th appearance in the NCAA Women's Basketball Championship, Rutgers will face No. 10 seed VCU in the first round Saturday, March 21, at the Louis Brown Athletic Center. Game time is set for 2:30 p.m. on ESPN2.
| Coach Stringer addressed the media at a Friday afternoon press conference.(Tom Ciszek/NJSportsPhoto). |
In the other first round game of the Piscataway site, second -seeded Auburn (29-3), regular season champion in the SEC, will face 15th-seeded Lehigh (26-6) on March 21 at Noon. The Mountain Hawks were the automatic qualifier out of the Patriot League. The winners of these two games will face each other in the second round on Monday, March 23.
"I know we have work to do and we have been practicing pretty intense the last week. We are happy to have the first two rounds at home," said head coach C. Vivian Stringer. "We are lucky that we were invited and excited about that opportunity."
The Scarlet Knights have made showings in 20 of the 28 NCAA Women's Basketball Championships. RU is making its seventh straight trip to the NCAA dance and the 11th under Stringer in her 14 seasons at the helm. Stringer has led the Scarlet Knights to two Final Four showings, including a national championship appearance in 2007.
RU is 32-19 all-time in NCAA tourney play with a 12-4 ledger in first round action. The Scarlet Knights are 5-2 in first round contests on its home court and a combined 10-3 in first & second round contests in Piscataway. This is the first time RU has hosted the NCAA Tournament since 2001.
Junior Epiphanny Prince (Brooklyn, N.Y.) paces the team in scoring, averaging 19.2 points per game. The first team All-BIG EAST honoree is also tops on the team in steals (2.7) and assists (2.7). Prince, a finalist for this year's Wooden Award, is joined in the backcourt by junior Brittany Ray (Bronx, N.Y.). Ray is second on the team in scoring (10.0) and three-point field goals (42).
Senior Kia Vaughn leads the team in rebounding for the fourth straight year, collecting seven boards a game. The center from the Bronx is third in scoring, averaging 9.7 points per contest. She has erupted for double figures in six of the last seven games, averaging 14.1 points and shooting over 70 percent during the span.
Rutgers has won five of its last seven games.
"I always believe (we have a chance to go far in the NCAA Championship). If these guys stay focused and everyone accepts their role and we do whatever we need to do to stay tight and light, I am always going to believe," Stringer said. "We are capable of doing that, we can do the Cinderella (and) we can put the shoe on and that is what we will do our best to do. That is not to downgrade anybody and certainly I recognize all the great talent that is there but if I don't believe in our team then who is."
The Rutgers Department of Intercollegiate Athletics has three ticket packages available for the event. An Adult All-Session package allows access to all three games of the tournament for $40.00, while a Student All-Session package is available to anyone 18 years of age or younger and college students for $15.00. A "Family Four Pack" that includes four tickets to the first round doubleheader Session I on March 21 and four hot dogs and four sodas is available for $60.00.
Tickets are available through the Rutgers Division of Intercollegiate Athletics ticket office by calling 1-866 445-GORU (4678) or through the department's official athletic website www.scarletknights.com.
Rutgers is one of 16 host sites for the first and second round games that leads to four regional sites (Oakland, Raleigh, Oklahoma City and Trenton) for the Sweet 16, and culminates with the 2009 Final Four at the Scottrade Center in Saint Louis, Mo. The other 15 first and second round host schools include New Mexico, LSU, Western Kentucky, Tennessee-Chattanooga, Maryland, Ohio State, Georgia, Michigan State, Iowa, Texas Tech, Notre Dame, USC, San Diego State, Washington and Connecticut.
The 8,000-seat arena, also known as the Rutgers Athletic Center (RAC) has played host to several NCAA Championship games, most recently serving as the host site for the 2001 first and second round games.
