By Stephen K. Lee
There are few things in this world that are certain.
Death. Taxes. The NCAA tournament committee stiffing the Rutgers women’s basketball team on Selection Monday.
And so it was that the Scarlet Knights (24-6) received their expected No. 2 seed in the NCAA women’s bracket.
At first glance, a No. 2 seed looks pretty good. After all, as a No. 2, all you’d have to do is beat a No. 15 seed and a No. 7 or 10 seed and you’re in the Sweet 16. Pretty sweet, right?
Wrong.
First of all, the tourney committee decided to place Rutgers in the Greensboro Regional with No. 1-overall seed and Big East rival Connecticut.
Rutgers faced top-seeded Duke in last year’s Greensboro Regional. Assuming the Huskies remain unstoppable over the next two weeks, the Scarlet Knights would once again have to beat the best team in the nation just to make it to the Final Four.
“I didn’t think there was any way on God's earth that this would happen,” said Rutgers head coach C. Vivian Stringer in a press release of her post-Selection Show presser. “It’s not that I am afraid of Connecticut, I am just stunned and shocked. This is a mind-blower.”
The Scarlet Knights are bracketed to play their first two rounds in Des Moines, IA. So, before Stringer and her team can even fathom a third bout with UConn, they may have to concern themselves with the possibility of facing No. 7 seed Iowa State in its home state.
A second-round game against the Cyclones would mark the fifth time in the past six NCAA tournaments that Rutgers plays on a lower seed’s home court or home state.
Stringer, who coached at the University of Iowa from 1983-1995, views the trip to Iowa as a nice personal homecoming of sorts. Still, she recognizes the challenges and uphill road that her team may face.
“I don’t think we even know what it’s like to travel on the long and winding road unless we’ve had some bumps along the way,” she says. “I think that unless there are some obstacles and some things we would not know how to just put on our boots and journey along the way. So this is probably more consistent for us.”
Senior guard/forward Essence Carson said that she has gotten used to taking the tough road in the NCAA tournament.
“I don’t know anything else as long as I’ve been here,” Carson said regarding the rough seedings Rutgers has received in her four years. “It's been a tough journey. Especially with last year, the journey definitely proved to be worth it. At the end of the day, when it came down to it and we had that momentum going and that confidence was there, it pushed us forward, thrust us forward to the Final Four.”
For senior point guard Matee Ajavon, now that the buildup to Selection Monday is over, it’s time to take care of business on the court.
“Connecticut is a great team and LSU is a great team, Tennessee is a great team,” Ajavon said. “All of these are great teams and I am expecting to see some of them down the path. So maybe that will come earlier than expected. At this point, we are excited to be in the tournament and I'm ready to play.”
Junior center Kia Vaughn said that she is looking forward to a possible Elite Eight matchup with UConn. Like her teammates, Vaughn is ready to get to work.
“I think with the NCAA and people who place us, it’s always a surprise,” she said. “But it’s a good surprise. We have to use what we have to get what we want.”
Stringer said that she would like a taste of the dominance and respect that the national superpowers have.
“Quite frankly, I don’t enjoy playing a second position to anybody,” she says. “So until we dominate at a national level, it continues to hurt my personal feelings. That’s how I feel about it. It’s a heck of a strain. I do not enjoy being a bridesmaid to anyone.
“Until we dominate, so that the fans here come to expect excellence on a consistent basis. I want the fans here in New Jersey to feel the same way that the fans in Connecticut do.”
Rutgers will face Robert Morris (23-9) on March 22 in the opening round of the tournament. Tip-off is set for 1:30 p.m. at the Iowa Events Center and the game will be televised on ESPN2.
NOTES: Rutgers is making its 19th-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament and 10th under Coach Stringer…The Scarlet Knights are 11-4 all-time in first-round games and 5-0 in first-round play on a neutral court…Rutgers was the No. 4 seed in the Greensboro Regional in last year’s tourney and toppled East Carolina, Michigan State (in East Lansing, MI), Duke and Arizona State to reach last year’s Final Four.
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