RUTGERS WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

Scarlet Knights news, opinions and more

Rutgers will host first and second-round games in the 2009 women's college basketball tournament on Saturday March 21 and Monday March 23, 2009, according to Scarlet Knights.com, It's the first time Rutgers Athletic Center has hosted women's NCAA tourney games since the tournament went to predetermined sites for the 2003 tournament.

Point guard Nikki Speed, one of five McDonald's All Americans in Rutgers star-studded incoming freshman class, had 10 points and five assists off the bench to help the USA Basketball Under 18 National Team cruise past Venezuela, 112-49, in the first game of the 2008 FIBA Americas Championship Wednesday in Argentina.

Speed added three steals in 18 minutes.

Kelsey Bone, one of the nation's top players for the 2009 recruiting class, had 13 points and six rebounds in 14 minutes off the bench. Rutgers is on Bone's short list.

Team USA faces Canada on Thursday.

Well, we reported in April that Rutgers would be playing Army for the second consecutive season in the Maggie Dixon Classic at Madison Square Garden, but it became official today. The Scarlet Knights, fresh off an Elite Eight appearance, will face the Black Knights on Sunday, Dec. 14, at noon.

Connecticut will play Penn State in the second game of the doubleheader. Both contests will be aired on ESPNU.

Continue reading "Rutgers women's basketball to play Army in Maggie Dixon Classic" »

Rutgers women's basketball assistant and recruiting coordinator Carlene Mitchell was promoted to associate head coach today. Mitchell, who completed her seventh season with the Scarlet Knights, helped put together a 2007 recruiting class that includes five McDonald's All-Americans.

Continue reading "Mitchell promoted to associate head coach" »

A 6-foot-4 power forward from Long Island became the first player in the Rutgers women's basketball class of 2009 when she gave coach C. Vivian Stringer a verbal commitment this week.

Christine Huber, ranked No. 53 among seniors in the ESPN HoopGurlz 100, led St. John the Baptist High School in West Islip, N.Y., to its second consecutive Catholic High School Athletic Association state title last season. She averaged 17 points, 13.7 rebounds and 5.4 blocks.

Rutgers welcomes a stellar recruiting class this season that includes five McDonald's All Americans. The Scarlet Knights advanced to the Elite Eight last season.

St. John the Baptist's Christine Huber, right, covers Cecelia Dixon of Murry Bergtraum, in the New York State Federation Tournament of Champions Class AA girls basketball final in Glens Falls, N.Y., March 30.A 6-foot-4 power forward from Long Island became the first player in the Rutgers women's basketball class of 2009 when she gave coach C. Vivian Stringer a verbal commitment this week.

Christine Huber, ranked No. 53 among seniors in the ESPN HoopGurlz 100, led St. John the Baptist High School in West Islip, N.Y., to its second consecutive Catholic High School Athletic Association state title last season. She averaged 17 points, 13.7 rebounds and 5.4 blocks.

Rutgers welcomes a stellar recruiting class this season that includes five McDonald's All Americans. The Scarlet Knights advanced to the Elite Eight last season.

Don Imus will find himself in a familiar position this morning on his WABC-AM radio broadcast -- facing questions about what he meant by on-air remarks about race.

Months after a career resurrection and a pledge to mend the the wounds caused by his "nappy-headed hos" remark about the Rutgers University women's basketball team, Imus drew criticism for racial comments made during his broadcast.

Continue reading "Racial remark has Don Imus under fire again" »

Cappie Pondexter was a star at Rutgers, has carved out a thriving career in the WNBA and next will head to Beijing as a member of the U.S. Olympic women's basketball team.

The former Scarlet Knights guard will be among the nine players to be named to the U.S. team tomorrow, according to a person familiar with the selection process, who requested anonymity because they aren't authorized to speak publicly. The USA Basketball Women's Senior National Committee will announce the remaining three players on the roster at a later date.

Pondexter, the second overall pick in the 2006 WNBA draft, helped the Phoenix Mercury to its first WNBA championship last summer and was named the MVP of the finals. Pondexter, 25, has been an all-star in each of her first two seasons.

Pondexter led C. Vivian Stringer's team to four NCAA Tournament appearances from 2003-06, including an Elite Eight berth in 2005. She played a key role in Rutgers' back-to-back Big East regular-season championships in 2005 and 2006. The Scarlet Knights were 97-22 during her career.

Pondexter, who was an Associated Press first-team All-America in 2006, is Rutgers' all-time leader in three-point field goal percentage and ranks second in scoring.

Incoming Rutgers freshmen Nikki Speed, Jasmine Dixon and April Sykes were among the 35 players invited to the USA Basketball Women's Under 18 National Team trials at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. The trio of McDonald's All-Americans will compete for a spot on the team that will play in the FIBA Americas Under 18 Championship in Argentina July 23-27.

The trials will be June 9-12. The invitations were extended to those players born on or after Jan. 1, 1990.

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In light of knee injuries to Myia McCurdy, Khadijah Rushdan and Brittany Ray this season, I figured I'd post a story I recently wrote about the high incidence of ACL injuries among females. I was amazed to find out that women injure their ACLs about 4 to 6 times as much as males.

I spoke to Khadijah, Myia and team trainer Corey Pegues for the story. Pegues and Rutgers strength & conditioning coordinator Mike Johansen are definitely on the cutting edge of rehab techniques. (I've included a pdf graphic that is helpful in breaking down the reasons why so many females suffer ACL injuries).

Anyway, here's the story...

Medical world focuses on rash of ACL tears

BY M.A. MEHTA/Star-Ledger Staff

She twisted through the air, completing a flawless dismount. A split second later, Prishani Seebadri felt a pop and snap in her left knee, a jarring force that left the gymnast writhing in pain two months ago.

"Everyone said it looked like a perfect landing," Seebadri remembered. "So I kept thinking, 'Is it something I did? What did I do wrong?'"

Seebadri tore her anterior cruciate ligament, which helps stabilize the knee by connecting the femur (thigh bone) to the tibia (shin bone). The Rutgers sophomore suffered an injury that has become an epidemic in women's athletics.

The explosion of female high school and college sports participation since the inception of Title IX more than 35 years ago has given rise to an alarming trend: Women injure their ACLs four to six times more often than men due to several anatomical, hormonal and neuromuscular factors, according to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.

Continue reading "Knee Injury Draws Attention to Women" »

Rutgers assistant Marianne Stanley was named an assistant coach for the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks yesterday. Stanley re-joined the pro coaching ranks after a two-year stint on C. Vivian Stringer's staff.

"I feel like my life has been enriched by spending the last two years at Rutgers," said Stanley, who was an assistant with the Sparks in 2000. "I have enjoyed reconnecting with my friend Vivian Stringer and working with the players."

Stanley, a member of the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, spent 21 seasons as a college head coach before roaming the WNBA sidelines for seven years as an assistant and head coach. She was the 2002 WNBA Coach of the Year with the Washington Mystics.

Stanley coached Old Dominion to a national championship in 1985 and Stanford to the Final Four in 1996.

Stringer will begin a search to fill Stanley's position immediately.

"She brought maturity, integrity, professionalism and a true passion for the game to Rutgers," Stringer said. "It's a huge loss for me personally because she is a very good friend. I am excited for her as she will be closer to her family now in California."

Marianne Stanley accepted an assistant coaching position with the Los Angeles Sparks today. Stanley, who was an assitant on Vivian Stringer's staff the past two seasons, re-joined the Sparks after serving as an assistant in 2000.

"I am excited to return to the WNBA," Stanley said. "I enjoyed my previous time with the Sparks and I am looking forward with great anticipation to what should be a history-making season."

Vivian Stringer will receive an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree from Howard University at the school's commencement ceremony tomorrow in Washington, D.C.

It's been a pretty packed off-season for the Scarlet Knights coach, whose been recruiting, making book signing appearances for her New York Times Best Seller autobiography "Standing Tall" and visiting family in Iowa.

Stringer will also receive an honorary degree from Mount Ida College in Newton, Mass.,
next Friday. Carol Matteson, a former classmate of Stringer's at Slippery Rock, is the president of the school.

Stringer told me last month that she was going to relax and get some rest this summer. But she seems to be going full speed ahead this offseason.

Khadijah Rushdan and Myia McCurdy are working hard and making progress to come back from knee injuries suffered last season. I spoke to both of them... and they both gave me the thumbs up on their rehab assignments.

Rushdan, who tore her ACL Dec. 30, spends about 1 1/2 hours each day with the team trainer and strength & conditioning coach. She's already been able to run the in the pool. Now, she's beginning to jog. She expects to be back on the court sometime this summer and ready to go when pre-season practice officially begins in the fall.

McCurdy, who suffered a microfracture, torn ACL and meniscus damage Feb. 19, told me that she fully expects to be back on the court in the next few months too.

"Sometime this summer," she said. "Definitely before the season starts, I'll be back.... I know when I come back, I'm going to be stronger than ever. And I'm going to be ready to play."

Rutgers and Connecticut, the two dominant powers in women's basketball in the Big East Conference, will play a home-and-home series next season.

In announcing its schedule yesterday, the league chose to maintain the same repeat opponents from the 2007-08 season for the upcoming year.

Continue reading "RU, UConn will play twice" »

No surprises here for Rutgers.

The Scarlet Knights' seven conference home games will be Cincinnati, Georgetown, Marquette, Pittsburgh, Providence, South Florida and West Virginia. C. Vivian Stringer's club will play road games against DePaul, Louisville, Notre Dame, St. John's, Seton Hall, Syracuse and Villanova.

Rutgers and Connecticut will play a home-and-home series next season. The Big East chose to keep the same repeat opponents from 2007-08. Each team will play a 16-game conference schedule, playing one opponent twice, while playing the 14 other teams once.

A little birdie (and by little birdie I mean UConn coach Geno Auriemma, of course) informed me -- and the rest of the college basketball universe -- that Rutgers will be a part of the Maggie Dixon Classic at Madison Square Garden again next season.

The Scarlet Knights will face Army for the second consecutive season. Connecticut will play Penn State in the other game.

But here are the specifics I dug up.

Continue reading "Rutgers 2008-09 Scheduling Update" »

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There was never a time when Kiersten Hickman-Perfetti questioned why fate had delivered such a cruel blow. Despite the litany of surgeries and hospitalizations, she had a smile permanently etched on her face.

Kiersten, an impassioned Rutgers women's basketball fan whose four-year battle with cancer inspired the Scarlet Knights to dedicate the 2007-08 season to her, died peacefully yesterday at her home in Highland Park with her parents, Larry and Mimi, by her side. She was 22.

Continue reading "Rutgers' inspirational light flickers out" »

UConn women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma says the regular-season series against rival Tennessee was canceled because Lady Vols coach Pat Summitt accused the Huskies of cheating in recruiting practices, the Associated Press reported. ¶ Continue reading "Auriemma blasts Summit over end of series" »

Kiersten Hickman-Perfetti, a lifelong Rutgers women's basketball fan, passed away after a four-year battle with cancer. Kiersten died peacefully in her Highland Park home this morning with her parents, Larry and Mimi, by her bedside.

Kiersten was 22.

Public viewings will be held Sunday, April 27, from 2-4 pm and 7-9 pm, at the Jaqui-Kuhn Funeral Home, 17 South Adelaide Avenue, Highland Park . A memorial service will also be held Sunday, May 4, at the Kirkpatrick Chapel on the Rutgers campus in New Brunswick beginning at 1 pm.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in Kiersten's memory for cancer research to Kier's Kidz Lemonade Stand c/o Alex 's Lemonade Stand Foundation, 333 East Lancaster Avenue, Suite #414 , Wynnewood , Pa. 19096 , (866-333-1213).

Here is the story about Kiersten that was in The Star-Ledger in March ...

Continue reading "Kiersten Hickman-Perfetti (1985-2008)" »

The incoming Rutgers freshman class received more accolades today. April Sykes, Jasmine Dixon, Brooklyn Pope, Chelsey Lee and Nikki Speed were named Parade All-Americans. The team of 40 high school standouts is selected by coaches, scouts, recruiters and the media.

Sykes and Dixon earned first-time honors, while Pope was named to the second team and Lee and Speed were picked for the third team.

Sykes, who averaged 25.5 points and 10.6 rebounds for East Oktibbeha High in Mississippi, also earned MaxPreps All-America first-team honors.

A few weeks ago, I met Kiersten Hickman-Perfetti for the first time in my life. I went to her home to write a story about her struggle with an incurable cancer for the past four years. Ever since that day, I have kept up with Kiersten's battle through her father Larry Perfetti.

During this extremely difficult time, Larry has been eloquent in his daily postings about his daughter's condition on CarePages. Today's entry chronicles a visit by Vivian Stringer, Katie Adams, Heather Zurich and other friends.

I thought I'd share it...

Continue reading "Rutgers family visits Kiersten Hickman-Perfetti" »

Nike announced that it will name a new development center at its Beaverton, Ore., headquarters after Vivian Stringer.

The 35,000-square-foot C. Vivian Stringer Child Development Center will open in June and have 26 classrooms to provide care, learning and development for approximately 300 children.

Stringer, the first coach to lead three different schools to the NCAA Final Four, is only the third woman and second coach (along with football legend Joe Paterno) to have a building named after her on the Nike campus.

"Words cannot truly express how deeply touched and honored I am," Stringer said. "When Phil Knight called to tell me of this tribute, I was literally speechless. I am so very humbled.... It is extremely personal because of the work that will be done in the building for young people, like my daughter."

Some of the athletes honored across the Nike campus include John McEnroe, Joan Benoit Samuelson, Michael Jordan, Nolan Ryan, Lance Armstrong, Mia Hamm, Jerry Rice and Tiger Woods.

Stringer is currently recruiting and appearing in a few local bookstores for her memoir, "Standing Tall," which No. 9 on the New York Times Best Seller list.

Epiphanny Prince can add All-Met Player of the Year to her growing list of accomplishments. To nobody's surprise, the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association revealed the news that the AP third-team All America was the best of the best in the area.

It was a good day for Rutgers.

C. Vivian Stringer was named the co-Coach of the Year with Marist's Brian Giorgis. Stringer won the award for the sixth time in her Hall of Fame career.

The Scarlet Knights trio of Matee Ajavon, Essence Carson and Kia Vaughn was named to the All-Met first team.

Ajavon and Carson were recently first-round picks in the WNBA Draft. Vaughn will likely follow the same path next year.

Prince & Co. will be honored April 17 at Giants Stadium Club in East Rutherford.