Rutgers failed to make the NCAA regionals for the first time in six seasons in 2010. Its draw in this year's tournament could make it difficult to get back there.
Playing in what's likely to be unfriendly territory, the Scarlet Knights will try to avoid another first-round exit when they face Louisiana Tech on Sunday night in Shreveport, La.
Rutgers failed to win a postseason game for the first time since 2004 with a 70-63 loss to Iowa last season. The Scarlet Knights (19-12) matched their win total from that campaign while earning their ninth straight tournament berth.
Matching their recent lengthy runs might prove difficult as a No. 7 seed. Rutgers will also open its 22nd NCAA appearance with a matchup against another perennial participant, the 10th-seeded Lady Techsters (24-7).
In its 27th trip, Louisiana Tech gets the benefit of playing about 70 miles from its campus in Ruston.
"Louisiana Tech is playing, what, two hours down the road (from its campus)? That's just the way of the world sometimes,'' Scarlet Knights coach C. Vivian Stringer said.
Should Rutgers win, it would face second-seeded Texas A&M or McNeese State in Tuesday's second round. The Aggies (27-5) blew out the Scartlet Knights 79-50 at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 19.
Stringer's team will try to overcome those disadvantages by continuing a late-season surge that saw it win seven of 10 and finish fourth in the Big East. During its campaign, Rutgers was led by a trio of second team all-conference performers in April Sykes, Khadijah Rushdan and Monique Oliver.
Sykes averaged a team-leading 13.6 points, while Rushdan (11.9 ppg) was the Big East's co-leader with 5.3 assists per contest. Oliver was the team's second-best rebounder (6.2 per game) and No. 3 scorer (11.3 ppg).
"They are strong all over," Lady Techsters coach Teresa Weatherspoon said. "We are going to have to be as flawless as possible. They have some tremendous players."
In their second season under the five-time WNBA All-Star, the Lady Techsters finished 15-1 to edge out Fresno State for the Western Athletic Conference title. They also recorded the program's 1,000th victory in the league tournament's semifinals, but fell 78-76 to the Bulldogs on a last-second shot in the championship game.
Louisiana Tech's chances of bouncing back with its first NCAA tournament win in seven years might hinge on the play of senior forward Adrienne Johnson. The WAC player of the year is among the nation's scoring leaders (22.0 ppg), and is 35 points shy of 2,000 for her career. She also was third in her conference with 9.5 rebounds per contest.
The Lady Techsters haven't played Rutgers since winning three straight meetings from 1979-81. Stringer, though, has faced Louisiana Tech eight times, including the inaugural NCAA women's national title game in 1982 - a 76-62 loss with Cheyney State.
