 "Photo: Matt Moss/Staff Photographer")
There was about a five-minute period after Tuesday night's game where Rutgers head coach C. Vivian Stringer showed signs of outward happiness.
As her ecstatic players lifted her on their shoulders in celebration after the Knights 51-39 win over Villanova on the road, Stringer waved to the largely scarlet-clad crowd, flashed the number one sign, and let her excitement show for all the Scarlet Knights fans behind her.
But by press conference time, the excitement was already contained to a subtle smile and she was looking forward, eyes on the bigger and hopefully, better things to come.
"I just want to be able to be happy for the moment and look forward to what we've really got to do in the tournament," Stringer said. "It would be sinful for us, and I would be so hurt, if we win the Big East out-right and then we don't put the games together in the tournament."
Truth is, in spite of all they've overcome and the number of highly regarded teams they've already put to rest this year - as soon as the Big East tournament starts, it's back to an even playing field.
The start of a new kind of season.
Aside from the perks, like a first-round bye and playing a low seed, being the regular-season conference champions doesn't mean much this weekend.
"The tournament isn't for anyone to take from us," said Stringer, whose Knights enter this weekend's Big East Tournament in Hartford, Conn., as the No. 1 seed. "We have nothing - everything is chapter one."
So with their top seed giving them a pleasant five-day hiatus before their first tournament game in the quarterfinal round Sunday, it's back to business, back to square one, and back to reality for the Knights.
"It's good because we can put some things together and work on the little things," junior forward Michelle Campbell said. "We can go back to the basics."
The winner of the tournament earns an automatic bid to the 64-team NCAA women's tournament later in the month.
No. 9 Rutgers (23-5, 14-2) will have to wait until Saturday afternoon to find out who they will play first. The Knights will take on the winner of the 2 p.m. contest between the St. John's Red Storm and the Seton Hall Pirates.
St. John's finished the season 18-9 overall, tied for sixth in the Big East and the eighth seed in the tournament.
The Red Storm are led by sophomore guard Kia Wright's 14.9 points-per-game. On the boards, sophomore forward Angela Clark is registering 8.6 rebounds-per-game.
When the two teams faced off in their only meeting of the regular season, Rutgers picked up the 64-49 win, thanks to the offensive attack of freshmen duo Matee Ajavon and Essence Carson, who combined for 33 points. Campbell also contributed 15 points and four rebounds.
On the other side of the coin, Seton Hall enters the tournament just above the .500 mark with a 14-13 record and ninth in the conference.
Senior guard Ashley Bush brings a double threat for the Pirates, her 13.3 points and 8.4 boards-per-game leading the team.
The Knights defeated the Pirates by a score of 67-40 last month, using a balanced scoring attack that saw nine different players enter the scoring column to secure the win.
RU is still led by Cappie Pondexter's 13.0 ppg., and Ajavon completed her first collegiate regular season posting 12.4 points-per-contest. Ajavon also leads the team in assists with 3.4 and Campbell has been a crucial presence underneath with a 5.9 rebound average.
But regardless of who lines up on the other side of the ball for the opening tip, Stringer's Knights will bring to the table the tenacious defense that has been the comforting tune to the season - sticking to the same game plan they have used all along.
"Defense is much more about will than skill," Stringer said. "It's easier to teach, and at the end of a season you will be further along defensively than offensively."
Should RU prevail in the quarterfinals, the first semifinal game is scheduled for next Monday at 6 p.m. The Big East championship game will tip off at 7 p.m. the following night.
The Knights are currently 12-9 all-time in Big East tournament play, including a 5-4 record in quarterfinal games.
This is the first time the team will assume the proverbial target on its back as the one seed, but considering some of their big wins this year, it comes as no surprise.
"The fact that we've had a tough season and come out fairly well, playing against some of the best teams in the country, says a lot," Stringer said in a conference call earlier this week.
As the coach and her team have put it time and time again, the closing of the regular season marks the symbolic close to one chapter, but the first of three important goals already down in the books.
They will look to move from one first to another, looking to take home their first championship in 10 years in the conference this weekend, while the NCAA tournament still dangles not too far off in the distance.
"A lot of historic things happened with this team," Stringer said. "I can't think of anyone more deserving. Now chapter one is done, but there are three legs to this."
KNIGHT NOTE: Stringer received her fourth ever nomination as one of 20 finalists for the 2005 Naismith National Coach of the Year Award. She joins her Big East colleagues, Geno Auriemma of Connecticut and Notre Dame's Muffet Graw, on the list of 20 candidates. Stringer has made quite a case for her selection, earning her 700th win this season as well as leading her team to the school's first-ever outright Big East regular season title.
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