Her head aching and her team reeling, Rutgers head coach C. Vivian Stringer ripped up her team’s plans following a razor-thin victory over Central Connecticut State Sunday.
The Scarlet Knights were supposed to get five days off during the holiday break. But the players infuriated Stringer during a 62-53 win at The RAC. The first off-day disappeared. Practice will start at 4 Monday morning.
“I don’t feel like getting up early in the morning, but I will,” Stringer said. “I will. And I hope that we don’t practice so late that some of these kids miss their flights home.”
What drew her ire? The usual suspects, the same ones that tormented her in too-close-for-comfort wins against Princeton and Prairie View A&M: Nineteen turnovers. Horrific shooting. An offense without direction.
That obscured the positives. Brittany Ray tallied 28 points, one shy of her career high, and Rashidat Junaid contributed 10 points.
Both Ray and Junaid said after the game that the team required rest. They have played 13 games already this year, more games than the program has ever played before Jan. 1 in a season. Time off would help.
“I think we really need a break,” Ray said. “Everybody just needs to change scenery, go home and just relax for a couple of days and come back.”
Stringer temporarily scuttled that notion. She already gave her players two days off heading into Sunday.
“We’ve got time off to relax,” Stringer said. “We’ve been relaxing in the games.”
Central Connecticut State (3-6) held the lead for more than 15 minutes due to offensive ineptitude by their hosts. Sophomore forward Chelsey Lee turned the ball over five times and missed all four of her shots. Sophomore guard Khadijah Rushdan went 0-for-4 with four turnovers. The team shot 27 percent in the first half and the Blue Devils took advantage.
But Ray drained a pair of 3s midway through the second half that finally put Rutgers ahead. She notched a four-point play at the 4:38 mark to push the lead to 11.
“When they’re hitting shots and we’re fouling them hitting jump shots and that type of stuff,” said Central Connecticut State head coach Beryl Piper, “those are daggers for our kids.”
Stringer could not care less. She swore she wouldn’t be able to sleep well, racking her brain for solutions for her inconsistent squad.
The Scarlet Knights (8-5) travel to George Washington on Dec. 30. Until then, there will be more practice.
“You know what I should have done?” Stringer said. “I should have probably let Christmas be determined based upon the games and what percentage of the games we played [well] in.
“That would be interesting. A whole bunch of people would be here with me.”
Andy McCullough may be reached at amccullough@starledger.com