HARTFORD, Conn. – The Rutgers women\’s basketball team will look to defend its conference tournament title as the 2008 BIG EAST Championships kick off on March 8 at the XL Center in Hartford, Conn. The Scarlet Knights, who won the 2007 championship, will be seeded second and play the winner of the Louisville/St. John\’s game Sunday, March 9. The game can be seen nationally on ESPNU starting at 6 p.m.
No. 4/5 Rutgers (24-5, 14-2) defeated No. 10 seed St. John\’s on January 5, 58-50, and topped No. 7 seed Louisville, 70-57, on Jan. 20. Both games were played in Piscataway. The Cardinals and the Red Storm will play in the first round on March 8 at 6 p.m.
Louisville (21-8, 10-6) is led by junior Angel McCoughtry, who leads the BIG EAST and is fourth in the nation with 23.8 points per game. The Cardinals are 1-2 all-time against Rutgers and in the only meeting this season, senior guard Matee Ajavon (Newark, N.J.) hit for a season-high 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting.
St. John\’s (16-13, 7-9) ended the season strongly with three consecutive victories. The Red Storm are led by Monique McLean, who averages 14.3 points per game (14th in the BIG EAST) and Kia Wright, who is fourth in the conference with 4.24 assists per game. Rutgers has won 30 of the 33 all-time meetings with the Red Storm, including 16 straight.
Rutgers is 18-11 all-time in the BIG EAST Tournament, including a 14-3 mark in neutral-site contests. This year marks the second consecutive season and fifth time overall that RU has been the No. 2 seed. GAME NOTES
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