College Womens Basketball: Scarlet Knights to Face 15th-Seed Robert Morris in NCAA Tournament First Round
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Media release March 17
PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The Rutgers women's basketball team, which received the No. 2 seed in the Greensboro Regional, will look for another magical run in the NCAA Tournament as the Scarlet Knights will open play against 15th-seed Robert Morris on Saturday, March 22 in Des Moines, Iowa. Tip-off is scheduled for approximately 2:30 p.m. EST at the Iowa Events Center and will be televised nationally on ESPN2.
Tickets for the 1st and 2nd Rounds are $16 per session and can be purchased by calling the Rutgers Athletics Ticket Office at 732-445-2766 or 866-445-GORU.
Rutgers, appearing in its 19th NCAA Tournament and 10th under head coach C. Vivian Stringer, is 11-4 all-time in first round NCAA Tournament games. RU has won three straight in opening round play and has not lost in the first round since falling to Chattanooga on March 20, 2004. Additionally, the Scarlet Knights are 5-0 in first round action on a neutral court.
The Scarlet Knights (24-6), who are ranked No. 7 in both of the latest polls, enter the tournament on their first two game losing streak of the year. RU is led by All-BIG EAST first team selections Epiphanny Prince (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Matee Ajavon (Newark, N.J.). Prince leads the team in scoring with 13.7 points per game and is third in the BIG EAST with 2.5 steals a game. Ajavon, who is second in the league with 4.9 assists per game, ranks second on the squad in both scoring and steals.
Robert Morris (23-9), which has won 17 consecutive games, captured the Northeast Conference regular season and tournament titles for the second consecutive season to earn its berth in the tournament. The Colonials have won 20 or more games in each of the last four seasons, but fell to North Carolina State, 84-52, as the No. 13 seed in the first round of last season's NCAA Tournament.
Junior guard Sade Logan leads the Colonials and is second nationally in scoring at 25.2 points per game. Logan, the Northeast Conference Player of the Year, leads the nation in three-pointers with 124 on the year. Robert Morris has played two teams that made this year's NCAA Tournament, losing 73-58 at No. 5 seed Nebraska and falling 82-74 at No. 13 seed Miami of Ohio.
This will be the first-ever meeting between Robert Morris and Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights have earned a bid into the NCAA Tournament in each of the last six seasons.
If Rutgers should advance, they would face the winner of the No. 7 Iowa State (20-12) and No. 10 Georgia Tech (22-9) game on Monday, March 24. Ironically, the Scarlet Knights have either played on a lower seed opponent's home court or in their home state in five of the last six NCAA Tournaments. BRACKET