 "Photo: Matt Moss/Staff Photographer")
Every team that competes in the NCAA Tournament can see a Final Four berth in its immediate future.
But only a handful of teams can attain a point where reaching the pinnacle of college hoops is tangible, rather than just a mirage.
For the Rutgers women's basketball team, the prize in plain sight, and the Scarlet Knights can also feel the heat and the pressure it generates.
Playing in nearby Philadelphia, in front of a pro-Rutgers crowd, the third-seeded Knights overcame a slow start offensively to eliminate the seconded-seeded Ohio State, 64-58 at the Liacouras Center Sunday.
Rutgers advances to the Philadelphia Regional final of the NCAA Tournament tomorrow against first-seeded Tennessee
The Knights are now one win away from their first Final Four appearance in five years and have reached the Elite Eight for the fourth time in school history.
Head coach C. Vivian Stringer has now been to the Elite Eight seven times in her illustrious coaching history, taking Rutgers to that plateau three times.
The Knights were led by senior guard Cappie Pondexter, who has led the Knights in scoring in all three tournament games, this time pacing the way with a 24-point effort.
In her three tournament games, Pondexter has scored a total of 71 points, averaging 23.7 points-per-game.
Rutgers was able to counter a 22-point, 14-rebound effort by sophomore All-American Jessica Davenport by holding the rest of the team to 36 points and 13-37 shooting for 35 percent. The defensive effort allowed the Knights to vindicate themselves after losing to the Buckeyes earlier this year by a score of 52-50 on the road.
Freshman guard Matee Ajavon chipped in 14 points and three assists while senior guard Chelsea Newton registered 13 points and a team-high eight rebounds.
Rutgers will now play the Volunteers, who they defeated 65-51 at the Louis Brown Athletic Center on Livingston campus Dec. 29 in front of an attendance of 7,405.
Tennessee - which was ranked number eight at the time - was held to a season-low 16 points in the first half against the upstart Knights and never really challenged the home team over the course of the game.
That win ignited the Knights' epic stretch of beating three top-10 ballclubs in a week, following with victories over Texas on the road and top-ranked LSU at home.
The Volunteers hold a 10-2 advantage in the overall series between the two squads.
The last time the two teams met in the NCAA Tournament was during Rutgers' Final Four campaign, when the second-seeded Volunteers upended the Knights 64-54 in the national semifinal game which was held in, coincidentally, Philadelphia.
Before that, the Knights upset another SEC team, first-seeded Georgia in the West Region Championship game, winning by a mark of 59-51.
The Knights have now reached a point in the tournament where the games transform from a jog into a sprint.
A berth to the Final Four is just one game away.
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