Tag: Rutgers women’s basketball

Social media reacts to the retirement of C. Vivian Stringer as Rutgers women’s basketball head coach

The world reacts to the news that Rutgers women’s basketball coach C. Vivian Stringer has retired.

The level of recognition for C. Vivian Stringer and her legendary career as a college basketball coach is staggering, a point underscored this weekend with the news that the Rutgers women’s basketball head coach is retiring.

Stringer announced her retirement from the game on Saturday morning and within minutes, tributes attesting to her impact on and off the court began to pour in.

Prominent names in sports and politics celebrated her coaching career and wished her well on the next stage of her life’s journey.

She retires with 1,055 wins. Her time at Rutgers was the longest of her storied career. Her legacy at Rutgers will include turning the program into a national title contender on a regular basis.

Rutgers, under the watch of Stringer, became a destination location in women’s college basketball. Now, they will have a national search for her replacement.

Four times she led Rutgers to the Final Four and three times they were Big East regular-season champions. In 2014, prior to their first season in the Big Ten, they won the WNIT.

Three times since joining the Big Ten the Scarlet Knights have made the NCAA Tournament.

As part of the celebration of her retirement, Rutgers announced that all basketball games at Jersey Mike’s Arena will be played at C. Vivian Stringer Court.

Check out some of the heartfelt emotional posts to the news that C. Vivian Stringer has announced her retirement.

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C. Vivian Stringer announces her retirement as Rutgers women’s basketball head coach

Rutgers women’s basketball head coach C. Vivian Stringer announces her retirement.

C. Vivian Stringer, the face of the Rutgers women’s basketball program since 1995, announced her retirement on Saturday morning. The Hall of Fame basketball coach leaves behind a tremendous legacy of success.

A success that she in large part built with her vision and undeniable work ethic.

In times of adversity that affected her program from the outside, Stringer showed class and always defended her team.

Such was the level of respect that Stringer earned that early on in her Rutgers career players committed to play for her and not necessarily the university.

But make no mistake about it, despite the struggles last year in her absence, Stringer leaves behind a program at Rutgers that has a strong track record of success over the past two decades.

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In a statement released by Rutgers on Saturday morning, Stringer explained her decision:

“I am officially announcing my retirement,” said Stringer. “My life has been defined by coaching and I’ve been on this journey for over five decades. It is rare that someone gets to do what they love for this long and I have been fortunate to do that. I love Rutgers University for the incredible opportunity they offered me and the tremendous victories we achieved together. There’s always a soft spot in my heart for the University of Iowa and Dr. Christine Grant for giving me my first major coaching position, when me and my husband trusted her to move our family to Iowa. She was a strong believer in women’s rights and that’s a responsibility that I have championed and will continue to take up the fight for.

“After recently celebrating the first women’s Final Four team at Cheyney State University, where it all started, it sat with me that I have been at this for a long time. It is important to step aside and challenge others to step up and take this game forward. I am forever indebted to all the coaches who I worked beside. Some were former players, some were colleagues, but all were friends and family at the end of the day and were my most trusted relationships. To the young ladies that I was fortunate to have coached and mentored into the women and leaders of today, keep pushing the barriers, keep pushing for your spot at the table, and always know who you are.

“This was the hardest decision of my life, but I thank God he has allowed me to do the thing I love most. I am ready to start my new journey and spending more time with my family, children, and grandchildren. I am truly blessed to have had so many wonderful people in my life.”

She retires with 1,055 wins. Her time at Rutgers was the longest of her storied career.

Stringer did not coach this past season. Her assistant, Timothy Eatman, served as the interim head coach.

Four times she led Rutgers to the Final Four and three times they were Big East regular-season champions. In 2014, prior to their first season in the Big Ten, they won the WNIT.

Three times since joining the Big Ten the Scarlet Knights have made the NCAA Tournament.

As part of the celebration of her retirement, Rutgers announced that all basketball games at Jersey Mike’s Arena will be played at C. Vivian Stringer Court.

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Rutgers women’s basketball sees progress in weekend battle against Maryland

Rutgers women’s basketball shows progress and development in Big Ten opening loss to Maryland.

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It was a tough loss for Rutgers women’s basketball, who fought hard and kept things very close in a 73-59 home loss to No. 8 Maryland.

Rutgers was led with strong efforts from Shug Dickson (18 points) and Osh Brown (18 points, eight rebounds). The Scarlet Knights are now 4-6 (0-1 Big Ten) on the season.

The Scarlet Knights started the game strong, going 53.8 percent from the floor in the first quarter, then things cold down as Rutgers missed 11-of-14 shots

Interim head coach Timothy Eatman said “credit them for being one of the top 10 teams in the country, for finding a way to execute and doing the things they’re supposed to do to be a good basketball team.”

“Well we thought the three things we needed to do: play great transition defense, that was number one. When we made a run, they answered with the easy basket but overall, I thought we fought to get back in transition,” Eatman told reporters after the game.

“We held them probably 10-12 points below their season average, so that was our kids really tring to get back in transition.

“The second thing we needed to do was keep them off the offensive boards. They’re getting 56 baskets this season off offensive rebounds, 72 baskets in transition. We thought we needed to limit it. The thing that we didn’t do was the third thing. We thought we needed to keep them off the frow throw line.

The Terrapins were 20-of-27 from the free throw line.

Also a big issue for Rutgers was that Maryland created 19 turnovers in the game.

Eatman started his press conference by congratulating the women’s soccer team for making the final four of the NCAA Tournament.

Rutgers women’s basketball taking Paradise Jam losses in stride

Rutgers women’s basketball sees recent struggles as getting squad ready for confere

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Fresh off an NCAA Tournament appearance a season ago, Rutgers women’s basketball has certainly disappointed in their 4-4 start to the season. For interim head coach Tim Eatman, however, it is all building towards conference play.

Rutgers lost all three games in last week’s Paradise Jam, capping the event with an 80-44 loss to Arizona. The Scarlet Knights have now lost four of their last five games.

Eatman says these are good things that Rutgers is going through early in the season.

“What you saw tonight, a great tournament for us. We found out a lot about our team [in] this tournament,” Eatman said after the loss to Arizona.

“Now we know we got to do we have to do – go back home and work on those things. But it was a great tournament plus we played against a team that presses every possession in DePaul. Played against the team that played us all zone in Vanderbilt. Played against a team in Arizona that played a half-court tough, tough, tenacious, half-court, defense.

“All those things we’re going to have in the Big Ten. So now we have experience, now we have good footage to show our players how to execute and so we’re thankful for that.

Rutgers opens Big Ten play on Dec. 5 against Maryland.

Last season, Rutgers went 14-5, losing in the opening round of both the Big Ten Tournament as well as the NCAA Tournament.

Rutgers women’s basketball opens season with a win over St. Peter’s

Rutgers women’s basketball is now 1-0 under interim head coach Tim Eatman.

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Rutgers women’s basketball got their season off to a solid start, a comprehensive 59-38 win over St. Peter’s on Tuesday night.

The scoring for Rutgers was led by sophomore guard Liz Martino who had 11 points on 4-of-9 shooting and added six assists – both team highs on the night. Rutgers rolled out to a 14-7 lead at the end of the first quarter and was up 24-13 at halftime.

A season ago, St. Peter’s was 13-15 (10-9 MAAC) and advanced to the MAAC Championship Game where they lost to Marist.

Rutgers had a balanced and productive night, moving the ball efficiently and getting contributions from its deep roster. It was a big night from forward Osh Brown, a transfer from Ball State who finished the game with eight points and 11 rebounds. Guard Jailyn Mason, a transfer from Arkansas, had five points and five rebounds in her first game at Jersey Mike’s Arena.

Rutgers opens the season with five straight home games. They face South Alabama on Friday and Fairfield on Sunday at Jersey Mike’s Arena.

St. Peter’s were led in scoring by Kendrea Williams who had 10 points as well the strong play of Kassondra Brown (eight points, eight rebounds, two assists and a block).

Offseason was a season of growth for Rutgers women’s basketball

Rutgers women’s basketball got some much-needed growth this offseason.

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Rutgers women’s basketball assistant coach Tim Eatman spoke at Big Ten Media Day last week ahead of what will be a year of transition for the Scarlet Knights. Eatman is optimistic about a team that he sees is coming together and looking to build on last year’s NCAA Tournament appearance.

Legendary head coach C. Vivian Stringer has not been with the team as she navigates the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic (as reported by NJ Advance Media’s Keith Sargeant). Eatman and the rest of the staff have needed to step in and contribute to Stringer’s usual duties.

“The one thing that coach always believes in is that you can only have one voice because you don’t want to have confusion with the players,” Eatman told reporters at Big Ten Media Day.

“Her favorite statement is, when you ask her, ‘Coach, when do you want me to do this,’ she always looks at you and says, ‘Yesterday.’ We want coach back yesterday, but we understand that she’s trying to find a way through this pandemic. Our best bet is to continue to move forward, but continue to do the things that coach will always do. Our staff is really excellent in the fact that we never dilute what coach wants done and we never pollute what coach wants done.

“Whether it’s tomorrow, whether it’s next month, or whether it’s for the first game, coach has an opportunity to do what she needs to do because she knows she has a staff at home that’s going to take care of business.”

Last season, Rutgers went 14-5 and 10-3 in a tough Big Ten. They lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament as a sixth seed.

Because of COVID-19, summer workouts last year were canceled for winter sports. Eatman believes that the benefits of offseason workouts and court time will greatly benefit this team.

“We’re so excited about this year’s team. Glenn Cain, our strength and conditioning coach, has done an amazing job with our players this summer and in fall workouts,” Eatman said.

“Thirteen of our kids have never had an opportunity to do a summer workout and a fall workout at Rutgers. Last year coach Stringer decided not to bring our team back until mid-September because she wanted to be sure that all of our players were safe.”