Rutgers Scarlet Knights women's basketball

Other NCAA Division I tournament results

Final Four	2000, 2007
Elite Eight	1986, 1987, 1999, 2000, 2005, 2007, 2008
Sweet Sixteen	1986, 1987, 1988, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009
Appearances	1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, 2021

AIAW tournament champions

1982

Other AIAW tournament results

Final Four	1982
Quarterfinals	1982
Appearances	1979, 1980, 1981, 1982

Conference tournament champions

A-10: 1987, 1988, 1993, 1994
Big East: 2007

Conference regular-season champions

1984, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1994, 1998, 1999, 2005, 2006

Uniforms

Home

Away

The Rutgers Scarlet Knights women's basketball team is the intercollegiate women's basketball program representing Rutgers University–New Brunswick. The school competes in the Big Ten Conference in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The Scarlet Knights play home basketball games at the Louis Brown Athletic Center on the university campus in Piscataway, New Jersey.^[2]^[3]

The Scarlet Knights (known as the Lady Knights until 1995) began play in 1974, winning their first ever game against Princeton 76–60. In 1976, Theresa Shank Grentz was hired as head coach, becoming the first full-time female basketball coach. The Scarlet Knights won the AIAW National Tournament 83–77 over Texas at the Palestra with the help of Restrepo-Pinero, who scored 30 points while being named MVP. In 2007, C. Vivian Stringer became the first coach to ever lead three teams (including Rutgers) to the Final Four.

Retired Numbers

No.	Player	Date of retirement	Career
Rutgers Scarlet Knights retired numbers
23	Sue Wicks	April 26, 1998	1984–1988
25	Cappie Pondexter	December 1, 2016	2002–2006 ^[4]
45	June Olkowski	January 2, 1988	1978–1982

All-Time Statistical Leaders

Career leaders

Points scored: 2,655 (Sue Wicks – 1984–88)
Assists: 839 (Tasha Pointer – 1997-01)
Rebounds: 1,357 (Sue Wicks – 1984–88)
Steals: 294 (Cappie Pondexter – 2002–06)
Blocks: 332 (Rachel Hollivay – 2012–2016)

Single season leaders

Points scored: 793 (Sue Wicks- 1987–88)
Assists: 257 (Tasha Pointer – 2000–01)
Rebounds: 404 (Sue Wicks – 1986–87)
Steals: 117 (Liz Hanson – 1993–94)
Blocks: 127 (Rachel Hollivay – 2013–14)

Single game leaders

Points scored: (44 by Sue Wicks vs George Washington −12/05/1987)
Assists: (18 by Tasha Pointer vs Stephen F. Austin – 03/17/2001)
Rebounds: (26 by Sandy Tupurins vs William Paterson – 03/01/1977)
Steals: (10 by Syessence Davis vs Penn State – 01/10/2015 & 10 by Denise Kenney vs Saint Joseph’s – 02/16/1978)
Blocks: (11 by Sue Wicks vs West Virginia – 01/03/1987)

Awards and honors

Naismith/U.S. Basketball Writers Association/Women’s Basketball News Service/Street & Smith’s National Player of the Year – Sue Wicks, 1988 winner.
Big East Conference Coach of the Year – C. Vivian Stringer, 1998 & 2005.
Atlantic-10 Conference Coach of the Year – Theresa Grentz, 1986, 1988 (co), 1993, & 1994.

International

Mael Gilles Canada: 2017 Summer Universiade^[5]
Kahleah Copper United States 2024 Paris Olympics^[6]

Coaching history

As of the beginning of the 2024–25 season, the Knights have had five head coaches and two interim coaches.

Coach	Tenure	Record	Conference record
Ellen Johns	1974–1975	6–5	n/a
Dottie McCrea	1975–1976	5–9	n/a
Theresa Grentz	1976–1995	434–150	156–28
C. Vivian Stringer	1995–2022	477–267	243–136†
Carlene Mitchell (interim)	2010	1–0	0–0
Timothy Eatman (interim)	2018	4–2	3-0
Coquese Washington	2022–2026	42-84	11-61
Gary Redus II	2026–present	0-0	0-0
Totals		941–462	404–181

† Denotes combined conference record (202–94 record with the Big East Conference (1979-2013), 12–6 record with the American Athletic Conference, and 19–15 record with the Big Ten Conference)

2026-27 Coaching Staff

Name	Position	Consecutive season at Rutgers in current position
Gary Redus II	Head coach	1st
Daphne Mitchell	Assistant coach	1st
Lauren Hansen	Assistant coach	1st
Manisha Redus	Assistant coach	1st
Preston Beverly	Assistant coach	1st
Matthew Brune	General Manager	1st

Year by year results

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason	Coaches' poll	AP poll
Ellen Johns (Independent) (1974–1975)
1974–75	Ellen Johns	6–5	–
Ellen Johns:		6–5	–
Dottie McCrea (Independent) (1975–1976)
1975–76	Dottie McCrea	5–9	–
Dottie McCrea:		5–9	–
Theresa Grentz (Independent) (1976–1981)
1976–77	Theresa Grentz	17–11	–
1977–78	Theresa Grentz	16–12	–
1978–79	Theresa Grentz	26–4	–		AIAW Consolation		7
1979–80	Theresa Grentz	28–5	–		AIAW Quarterfinals		8
1980–81	Theresa Grentz	27–6	–		AIAW second round		9
1981–82	Theresa Grentz	25–7	–		AIAW Champions		8
1982–83	Theresa Grentz	19–10	–
Theresa Grentz:		160–55	–
Theresa Grentz (Atlantic 10 Conference) (1983–1995)
1983–84	Theresa Grentz	20–9	7–1	1st
1984–85	Theresa Grentz	19–9	5–3	T-4th
1985–86	Theresa Grentz	29–4	16–0	1st	NCAA Elite Eight		10
1986–87	Theresa Grentz	30–3	17–1	1st	NCAA Elite Eight		5
1987–88	Theresa Grentz	27–5	17–1	1st	NCAA Sweet Sixteen		8
1988–89	Theresa Grentz	24–7	16–2	T-1st	NCAA Second Round
1989–90	Theresa Grentz	20–10	16–2	T-1st	NCAA First Round
1990–91	Theresa Grentz	23–7	15–3	T-2nd	NCAA First Round		20
1991–92	Theresa Grentz	21–11	11–5	T-2nd	NCAA Second Round
1992–93	Theresa Grentz	22–9	12–2	1st	NCAA Second Round
1993–94	Theresa Grentz	22–8	13–3	T-1st	NCAA First Round
1994–95	Theresa Grentz	17–13	11–5	T-3rd
Theresa Grentz:		274–95	156–28
C. Vivian Stringer (Big East Conference) (1995–2013)
1995–96	C. Vivian Stringer	13–15	8–10	5th (BE7)
1996–97	C. Vivian Stringer	11–17	8–10	T-2nd (BE7)
1997–98	C. Vivian Stringer	22–10	14–4	1st (BE7)	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
1998–1999	C. Vivian Stringer	29–6	17–1	T-1st	NCAA Elite Eight		9
1999–2000	C. Vivian Stringer	26–8	12–4	T-3rd	NCAA Final Four	4	8
2000–01	C. Vivian Stringer	23–8	13–3	3rd	NCAA Second Round	17	11
2001–02	C. Vivian Stringer	9–20	5–11	11th
2002–03	C. Vivian Stringer	21–8	13–3	2nd	NCAA Second Round		23
2003–04	C. Vivian Stringer	21–12	10–6	T-6th	NCAA First Round
2004–05	C. Vivian Stringer	28–7	14–2	1st	NCAA Elite Eight	7	9
2005–06	C. Vivian Stringer	27–5	16–0	1st	NCAA Sweet Sixteen	9	9
2006–07	C. Vivian Stringer	27–9	12–4	T-2nd	NCAA Runner-up	2	15
2007–08	C. Vivian Stringer	27–7	14–2	3rd	NCAA Elite Eight	6	7
2008–09	C. Vivian Stringer	21–13	9–7	7th	NCAA Sweet Sixteen	21
2009–10	C. Vivian Stringer	18–15	9–7	T–6th	NCAA First Round
2010–11	C. Vivian Stringer	20–13	11–5	4th	NCAA Second Round
2011–12	C. Vivian Stringer	22–10	10–6	6th	NCAA First Round		23
2012–13	C. Vivian Stringer	16–14	7–9	T-9th
C. Vivian Stringer:		381–197	202–94
C. Vivian Stringer (American Athletic Conference) (2013–2014)
2013–14	C. Vivian Stringer	28–9	12–6	4th	WNIT Champions
C. Vivian Stringer:		28–9	12–6
C. Vivian Stringer (Big Ten Conference) (2014–2022)
2014–15	C. Vivian Stringer	23–10	12–6	T-4th	NCAA Second Round	22
2015–16	C. Vivian Stringer	19–15	7–9	T-9th	WNIT Second Round
2016–17	C. Vivian Stringer	6–24	3–13	T-11th
2017–18	C. Vivian Stringer	20–12	7–9	T-9th
2018–19	C. Vivian Stringer	22–10	13–5	3rd	NCAA First Round
2019–20	C. Vivian Stringer	22–9	11–7	T-5th	Cancelled due to Covid-19
2020–21	C. Vivian Stringer	14–5	10–3	3rd	NCAA First Round		21
2021–22	C. Vivian Stringer	11–20	3–14	13th
C. Vivian Stringer:		137–105	66–66
Coquese Washington (Big Ten Conference) (2022–2026)
2022–23	Coquese Washington	12–20	5–13	11th
2023–24	Coquese Washington	8–24	2–16	14th
2024–25	Coquese Washington	13–20	3–15	15th	WNIT Great 8
2025–26	Coquese Washington	9–20	1–17	18th
Coquese Washington:		42–84	11–61
Gary Redus II (Big Ten Conference) (2026–present)
2026–27	Gary Redus II	0–0	0–0
Gary Redus II:		0–0	0–0
Total:		1033–559
National champion Postseason invitational champion Conference regular season champion Conference regular season and conference tournament champion Division regular season champion Division regular season and conference tournament champion Conference tournament champion

Postseason results

NCAA Division I

Rutgers has appeared in the NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament 26 times. They have a record of 36–26.

Year	Seed	Round	Opponent	Result
1986	#2	Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight	#7 Villanova #3 Penn State #4 W. Kentucky	W 85–58 W 85–72 L 74–89
1987	#2	Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight	#7 Duke #3 NC State #1 Texas	W 78–64 W 75–60 L 77–85
1988	#3	Second Round Sweet Sixteen	#6 Old Dominion #2 Virginia	W 88–78 L 75–89
1989	#7	First Round Second Round	#10 Southern Miss #2 NC State	W 95–73 L 73–75
1990	#11	First Round	#6 Vanderbilt	L 75–78
1991	#6	First Round	#11 Toledo	L 65–83
1992	#8	First Round Second Round	#9 Southern Miss #1 Tennessee	W 93–63 L 56–97
1993	#9	First Round Second Round	#8 Vermont #1 Ohio State	W 80–74 L 60–91
1994	#5	First Round	#12 W. Kentucky	L 73–84
1998	#5	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen	#12 Oregon #4 Iowa State #1 Tennessee	W 79–76 W 62–61 L 60–92
1999	#3	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight	#14 Dartmouth #6 Arizona #2 Texas Tech #1 Purdue	W 84–70 W 90–47 W 53–42 L 62–75
2000	#2	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four	#15 Holy Cross #10 St. Joseph's #11 UAB #1 Georgia #1 Tennessee	W 91–70 W 59–39 W 60–45 W 59–51 L 54–64
2001	#4	First Round Second Round	#13 Stephen F. Austin #5 SW Missouri State	W 80–43 L 53–60
2003	#4	First Round Second Round	#13 W. Kentucky #5 Georgia	W 64–52 L 64–74
2004	#7	First Round	#10 Chattanooga	L 69–74
2005	#3	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight	#14 Hartford #6 Temple #2 Ohio State #1 Tennessee	W 62–37 W 61–54 W 64–58 L 49–59
2006	#3	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen	#14 Dartmouth #11 TCU #2 Tennessee	W 63–58 W 82–48 L 69–76
2007	#4	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four Title Game	#13 East Carolina #5 Michigan State #1 Duke #3 Arizona State #3 LSU #1 Tennessee	W 77–34 W 70–57 W 53–52 W 64–45 W 59–35 L 46–59
2008	#2	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight	#15 Robert Morris #7 Iowa State #6 George Washington #1 Connecticut	W 85–42 W 69–58 W 53–42 L 56–66
2009	#7	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen	#10 VCU #2 Auburn #6 Purdue	W 57–51 W 80–52 L 61–67
2010	#9	First Round	#8 Iowa	L 63–70
2011	#7	First Round Second Round	#10 Louisiana Tech #2 Texas A&M	W 76–51 L 48–70
2012	#6	First Round	#11 Gonzaga	L 73–86
2015	#8	First Round Second Round	#9 Seton Hall #1 Connecticut	W 79–66 L 55–91
2019	#7	First Round	#10 Buffalo	L 71–82
2021	#6	First Round	#11 BYU	L 66–69

AIAW Division I

The Scarlet Knights made four appearances in the AIAW National Division I basketball tournament, with a combined record of 7–4.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
1979	First Round Quarterfinals	Tennessee Long Beach State	W 73–66 L 51–69
1980	First Round Quarterfinals	Central Missouri State Providence Old Dominion	W 87–75 W 70–54 L 62–84
1981	First Round Quarterfinals	Clemson Long Beach State	W 99–76 L 73–77
1982	First Round Quarterfinals Semifinals Championship Game	Georgia Southern Minnesota Villanova Texas	W 89–79 W 83–75 W 83–75 W 83–77

v t e Rutgers Scarlet Knights women's basketball
Venues	College Avenue Gymnasium (1974–1977) Jersey Mike's Arena (1977–present)
Rivalries	Princeton UConn
Culture & lore	History
People	Head coaches
Seasons	1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26
AIAW and NCAA national championships in bold; AIAW and NCAA Final Four appearances in italics

v t e Big Ten Conference women's basketball
Teams	Illinois Fighting Illini Indiana Hoosiers Iowa Hawkeyes Maryland Terrapins Michigan Wolverines Michigan State Spartans Minnesota Golden Gophers Nebraska Cornhuskers Northwestern Wildcats Ohio State Buckeyes Oregon Ducks Penn State Lady Lions Purdue Boilermakers Rutgers Scarlet Knights UCLA Bruins USC Trojans Washington Huskies Wisconsin Badgers
Championships & awards	Regular season champions Big Ten Conference women's basketball tournament Coach of the Year Player of the Year Freshman of the Year Defensive Player of the Year Chicago Tribune Silver Basketball (defunct)
Seasons	1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26