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UConn Tolling

Now up 74-44 over SCOops - Rolling
I am sorry I heard someone interviewed today and he said it’s good for women’s that U Conn is good because everyone will elevate their game but clearly very few Teams have even come close and occasionally beaten them but it’s very hard to watch women’s basketball because they are so dominant!!
 
Sooo boring...I watched about 2 minutes of the UConn game. I used to love women's basketball but they've taken all the fun out of it. I can only hope one of the 3 remaining teams can step up and give them a fight. I probably won't watch.
 
It seems so long ago that we thought we could compete with them.
 
How did Rutgers do against UConn before Auriemma was hired? Can't say I remember either way.
 
I watched about 5 minutes. South Carolina threw some just horrible passes. Like 5 turnovers in first 5 minutes of game. Mississippi State has the big center and I think they have a better coach than Dawn Staley.
 
For first time in a long time I have had little interest in women’s tournament - just happened on SC and UConn flipping channels. Boring.
 
All number 1 seeds made it also. Just very boring.
Its reality that womens college basketball has Uconn as the premier program and a small cadre of other teams to fill the other 3 NCAA Final Four spots year after year.
 
It seems so long ago that we thought we could compete with them.

Thought we could?

We did compete with them for a few years there. From 2004-08, UConn's record vs. Rutgers was 6-5... we just couldn't keep it up.

Since Stringer arrived at Rutgers, Rutgers has had more wins against UConn than all but two programs. In those 24 seasons... Notre Dame has 13 wins, Tennessee has 10, Rutgers has 6, Stanford has 4, UNC has 3, BC has 3, Duke has 2, Nova has 2, and LTech has 2.... 10 other schools have a single win.
 
UConn can be beat but you have to hope they don’t bring their A game and you play the game of your life. They made 9 out of first 10 3s last night. Sorry, you’re not going to beat them when that happens.
 
If the late Pat Summitt had Dawn Staley’s talent we would have a real rivalry in women’s college basketball!
 
If the late Pat Summitt had Dawn Staley’s talent we would have a real rivalry in women’s college basketball!
I believe Summitt's 8 National Championships along with being the runner up 5 times go a long way to prove she could recruit great talent and coach that talent into constant National Championship contenders.
 
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If Pat Sunmitt hadn’t become sick, women’s basketball would be a lot more popular. One dominant is boring. Two dominant teams though? You’d have a BITTER rivalry between the two and very compelling theater.
 
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Thought we could?

We did compete with them for a few years there. From 2004-08, UConn's record vs. Rutgers was 6-5... we just couldn't keep it up.

Since Stringer arrived at Rutgers, Rutgers has had more wins against UConn than all but two programs. In those 24 seasons... Notre Dame has 13 wins, Tennessee has 10, Rutgers has 6, Stanford has 4, UNC has 3, BC has 3, Duke has 2, Nova has 2, and LTech has 2.... 10 other schools have a single win.
We could compete head to head during that period, although in general, they out-performed us across the board.

UConn is almost impossible to beat. Part of it is attitude, part is talent (big nod to recruiting), part is development as a team and the way the parts mesh (nod to recruiting again), in game coaching, etc.

Until Geno retires, it is what it is. There is still a lot of inequality between the various levels of teams. UConn and a few other elite teams. Way too many one-sided games, not limited to UConn.

While I hate to use the term boring, I will admit that I switched off a lot of games when they were a bit one-sided.
 
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We could compete head to head during that period, although in general, they out-performed us across the board.

Well, we were also regular season conference champions in 2005 and 2006, and conference tournament champion in 2007. UConn was regular season champ the other 2 seasons, and tourney champ the other 3.

As for tourney results during that period:
2004-05: RU Elite 8, UConn Sweet 16
2005-06: RU Sweet 16, UConn Elite 8
2006-07: RU Nat'l Runner Up, UConn Elite 8
2007-08: RU Elite 8, UConn Final Four

We were right there with them for a stretch.... but we couldn't keep it up.

UConn stepped it up from there (making the Final Four in all 10 tournaments since and winning 6 NCs), and we regressed (making the Sweet 16 in 2009, then not making it out of the second round since).
 
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Also of interest - in the three tournaments from 2005-07, our run was ended by Tennessee.

In 2008, it was ended by UConn... and the seeding that year was total BS.

The two best teams in the Big East (UConn/Rutgers) got placed #1/#2 in the same regional, when the next lowest seed in the conference was 4-seed Louisville. And while all the other of the Top 4 seeds got to play their first two games in their home state... #2 Rutgers played its first two games in IA, meeting #7 Iowa St in the second game.

Article from NJ.com at the time, with reaction quotes from CVS, the team, and Geno:
http://www.nj.com/rutgerswomen/index.ssf/2008/03/ru_uconn_land_in_same_bracket.html

"It's not that I have a fear of Connecticut," said Stringer, whose team handed the Huskies their only loss of the season Feb. 5 before UConn returned the favor with a 20-point win in the regular-season finale two weeks ago. "I was just stunned, shocked ... wow! That's a mind-blower. I am totally stunned. If I was a betting woman, I would have lost a lot of money."

"With so many teams to choose from it's kind of ironic," Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma said. "I guess Rutgers is the No. 8 seed in the country? I find that hard to believe, but I guess they are. If I were them, I'd be questioning a little bit what's going on."

"I'm not surprised," said Ajavon of the tough draw. "If it would have been any other way, I would have found it weird."

Said Stringer: "I'm fired up. We can clearly see what's going on."

It's the fifth time in six years that Rutgers would play a lower-seeded team on that team's home court or in its home state. Last season, the fourth-seeded Scarlet Knights played No. 5 seed Michigan State in East Lansing in the second round.
 
Just a reminder that there have been variably competitive teams after 2008 that were hit with late-season injuries. Chelsea Lee could barely stay on the court the last few games of her senior season. I think that was the first year RU did not get an invitation to the NCAAT in a long time. I also think what has become the late-season fade started around then. Also the year Benijah Laney and Syessence Davis (Was Rachel Hollivay a junior?) were seniors was the year RU met UConn in the second round of the tournament after Essie was lost to injury toward the end of the season. That was another year with a late fade, but I think there was strong sentiment that the team was Sweet-16 caliber or better that year.
 
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