Scarlet Knights

Tuesday dawned bleakly in the central New Jersey town of Piscataway. The temperature was in the teens, and there were several inches of snow and ice on the ground. But at the Louis Brown Athletic Center, the outlook was sunny and the atmosphere was warmer than at a Wildwood beach in July. By 7 a.m. that day, 2,000 students had gathered in line at the building fondly known as "The RAC" to buy precious tickets to see their Rutgers basketball team play in tonight's championship game of the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament.

The Rutgers women's basketball team delivered a message. "Our defense is back," coach C. Vivian stringer said after the No. 15 Scarlet Knights' 72-46 rout of No. 6 UCLA last night. "We demonstrated some stuff to ourselves and sent a message across the country that our defense is going to be as stingy as it was last year. " Rutgers (6-2) was third nationally in scoring defense last year and was ranked sixth this season at 54.6 points per game. The Bruins (5-3), who led the nation by averaging over 80 points per game through the first seven games, had no answers for Rutgers's matchup zone.

Last year, Rutgers nearly upset Syracuse in the Carrier Dome before succumbing to a furious Orange rally that produced two touchdowns in the final three minutes. Yesterday, the Scarlet Knights exacted payback in spades. Corey Barnes returned a blocked punt and a fumble for touchdowns and Mike Teel threw for two scores in leading Rutgers to a 31-9 victory over host Syracuse. Despite perfect playing conditions inside the Carrier Dome, Syracuse (1-5, 0-3 Big East) lost five of nine fumbles and Rutgers (4-2, 2-1)

Tasha Pointer chuckled at the question, perhaps because the answer was so simple. What were her memories of her first game against Tennessee? The game when Rutgers got drilled, 92-60, in a Mideast Regional semifinal of the 1998 NCAA women's tournament, and she fouled out with too much time left on the clock? "I don't think I knew all the plays," said Pointer, now a junior. "That was my freshman year. " Along with a lot of things about the Rutgers women's basketball program since Vivian Stringer took over on July 14, 1995, Pointer has evolved.

A month ago, Rutgers senior guard Lynn Ust was lost for the season in a game at Penn State when she tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee. Since then, the Scarlet Knights' opportunities for postseason success have dimmed; they've lost three games and slipped from No. 9 to No. 18 in the weekly coaches' poll. "It's not so much what she did offensively, but she was the glue to our attack," Rutgers coach Theresa Grentz said last week. "She kept everyone calm, she gave us leadership and she played tough defense.

South Florida insisted it owed Rutgers revenge after three consecutive losses, but the No. 23 Bulls played last night as if they owed the Scarlet Knights a favor instead. Cardinal O'Hara graduate Tom Savage threw for 194 yards and two touchdowns, and San San Te kicked three field goals as the Scarlet Knights topped USF, 31-0, in front of 48,057 at Rutgers Stadium. In getting shut out during the regular season for the first time in its 13-year history, South Florida (6-3, 2-3 Big East Conference)

Cappie Pondexter hit two foul shots with 7.8 seconds remaining last night to end years of Rutgers frustration here with a 60-56 win over No. 4 Connecticut. It was only the third victory by the Scarlet Knights in the 22-game series between the two Big East and national powers, but Rutgers (18-3, 10-0 conference) had never beaten the Huskies in Gampel Pavilion or in nearby Hartford. The teams will meet again later this month in Piscataway, N.J., and possibly soon thereafter in the Big East tournament in Hartford.

Former Pennsbury High star Mike Jones didn't expect to be a factor in his first season on Rutgers' basketball team. However, Jones, a 6-foot-4, 175-pound freshman guard, has started for the Scarlet Knights most of the season. "It's been a pretty good year for me," Jones said. "I'm not averaging a lot of points (3.3) and rebounds (1.1) a game. But I've been starting and getting about 16 minutes a game. "I wasn't sure about my playing time. Rutgers had some fine guards coming back from last year's team, which won the Atlantic 10 Conference championship.

Fred Hill Jr. is at the Final Four again this year, rubbing shoulders with colleagues and counterparts from around the country. The 47-year-old Hill just joined the fraternity on Monday. When the Verona, N.J., native arrived in Indianapolis on Tuesday, he was a first-time head coach whose new job at Rutgers satisfied a career goal. An added bonus is that Hill's father, Fred Hill Sr., is in his 23d season as the Scarlet Knights' baseball coach. "Growing up in New Jersey, Rutgers was the state university, and I always thought it could be a good job," said Hill, who attended Verona High and Montclair State.

Second-year Rutgers coach Doug Graber hasn't talked about the Scarlet Knights' newest recruiting class - he'll do that today at a news conference - but it's clear what he was out to get. Beef. No fewer than 10 of the 15 players expected to sign with Rutgers were offensive or defensive linemen, including Inquirer all-area selection Chris Kennedy of Downingtown. Kennedy, a 6-foot-5, 290-pounder, said he signed with Rutgers because "the atmosphere is pretty nice up there.

Playing 11th-seeded Gonzaga on its home floor in Spokane, Wash., in the first round of the NCAA women's basketball tournament ended up posing a lot of problems for sixth-seeded Rutgers. The crowd noise kept the Scarlet Knights from communicating effectively with each other. And they had trouble shooting the ball, especially in the first half. "We couldn't hear each other," Rutgers' April Sykes said. "The crowd was loud. " Coach C. Vivian Stringer resorted to sending substitutes into the game to carry her instructions to the team during an 86-73 loss to the Bulldogs on Saturday.

PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Villanova summoned a sadly familiar scenario Thursday night at the Louis Brown Athletic Center as it desperately tried to find a few positives in a dismal season. The Wildcats raced out to a 19-point lead in the first half against Rutgers, marking the fourth time since Jan. 28 they have accumulated an advantage of 18 points or more in the opening period. The problem was, they were 0-3 the previous three times they achieved it. On Thursday night, the Wildcats gave up all but one point of the huge advantage.

Timber Creek's Greg Webb has accepted an offer to play in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio, Texas, next January, according to Chargers coach Rob Hinson. Webb will join Eastern's Eli Woodard as South Jersey's representatives at perhaps the most prestigious of the postseason high school all-star games. Webb, a defensive tackle who helped Timber Creek to a 12-0 record and the South Jersey Group 3 title in the fall, has the interest of more than 20 colleges, according to Hinson.

Timber Creek's Greg Webb has accepted an offer to play in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio, Texas, next January, according to Chargers coach Rob Hinson. Webb will join Eastern's Eli Woodard as South Jersey's representatives at perhaps the most prestigious of the postseason high school all-star games. Webb, a defensive tackle who helped Timber Creek to a 12-0 record and the South Jersey Group 3 title in the fall, has the interest of more than 20 colleges, according to Hinson.

Quanzell Lambert believes his word should be as firm as his handshake. Lambert, a 6-foot-2, 240-pound linebacker from Timber Creek who was South Jersey's most highly recruited football player, honored his commitment to Rutgers University on Wednesday by signing a letter of intent with the Scarlet Knights. Despite some "highs and lows," after coach Greg Schiano left Rutgers Jan. 26 to become coach of the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Lambert said, he never wavered in his determination to continue his athletic and academic career at the state university.

Quanzell Lambert believes his word should be as firm as his handshake. Lambert, a 6-foot-2, 240-pound linebacker from Timber Creek who was South Jersey's most highly recruited football player, honored his commitment to Rutgers University on Wednesday by signing a letter of intent with the Scarlet Knights. Despite some "highs and lows," after former Rutgers coach Greg Schiano left the program Jan. 26 to become coach of the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Lambert said he never wavered in his determination to continue his athletic and academic career at the state university.

PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Rutgers acted quickly in replacing head coach Greg Schiano and that move appears to be giving the Scarlet Knights a banner recruiting class. On the day that Kyle Flood turned the interim tag into a five-year coaching deal, Rutgers scored a recruiting coup when all-American defensive lineman Darius Hamilton announced on Tuesday evening that he would attend Rutgers. The son of former NFL lineman Keith Hamilton chose Rutgers over Miami. In addition, two-time Inquirer all-South Jersey linebacker and all-American Quanzell Lambert of Timber Creek also said he will attend Rutgers, his high school coach Rob Hinson said in a text message on Tuesday.

RUTGERS TURNED to assistant Kyle Flood to replace Greg Schiano as the team's head football coach, hours after Florida International's Mario Cristobal passed on a chance to take over the Scarlet Knights. A person with knowledge of the decision told the Associated Press yesterday that Flood had accepted an offer to become Rutgers' next coach. Flood is expected to be introduced today at a news conference on the Rutgers campus in Piscataway, N.J. Cristobal, a former Rutgers assistant who has been with FIU for five seasons, appeared to be Rutgers' first choice, but decided to stay in Miami.

TAMPA, Fla. - Greg Schiano relishes the challenge of trying to turn around the struggling Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The 45-year-old former Rutgers coach was formally introduced Friday as the ninth coach in franchise history, inheriting a team that allowed the most points in the NFL this season. "We're beginning a new chapter for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers," Bucs cochairman Joel Glazer said. Glazer said Schiano "has a vision for what he wants to do. " Schiano transformed Rutgers from a struggling college football program into a Big East contender during an 11-year run with the Scarlet Knights.