Khadijah Rushdan will pray. Chelsey Lee will hope.
But as Selection Monday looms, the members of the Rutgers women’s basketball team will not beg for a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
“I don’t like being put in a position where I have to (say) ‘Please, sir,’ ” coach C. Vivian Stringer said Saturday at the Rutgers Athletic Center. “I’m not going to ask you (for) anything. You can bet your last dime. Because I have too much pride.”
After a tumultuous season, Rutgers (19-14) appeared to cement its status in the conference tournament with a victory over No. 13 Georgetown last weekend. Yet they are still on the bubble. It’s an unfamiliar position for the Scarlet Knights in recent years. They’ve made the NCAA Tournament each year since 2002. Usually, the discussion this time of year is about seeding. Now it’s about actually getting a seed.
Here’s the case for the Scarlet Knights:
They have 18 victories
(their early season win over Division 3 Kean does not count for NCAA Tournament purposes).
They have a winning record
in the Big East and won a pair of tournament games.
They played the third-toughest
schedule in the country.
They have six quality victories
— Boston College, Southern California, Mississippi State, Princeton, DePaul, Georgetown.
So their Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) is strong. Rutgers is ranked No. 32, according to Real Time RPI.
That Princeton victory, a turnover-laden affair in December after which Stringer excoriated her team, became crucial as the Tigers improved later in the year. They went undefeated in the Ivy League and, thanks to an automatic qualifier as the league champion, secured their first tournament bid.
Princeton is in. Rutgers must wait.
The players say they haven’t paid attention to Bracketology, RPI or any of that. But they believe in each other.
“I have faith in my teammates,” Rushdan said after getting knocked out of the Big East Tournament by West Virginia. “We’re praying and hopeful that we can get into the NCAA Tournament.”
Andy McCullough may be reached at amccullough@starledger.com