Rams made credibility gain in loss

PISCATAWAY, N.J. The game began as everyone expected. The Rutgers University women's basketball players came out fast and furious.

The game wasn't four minutes old before Rutgers had a seven-point lead on the VCU Rams.

The Scarlet Knights looked as if they intended to settle the issue before the Rams realized playing an NCAA tournament game is not all that different from playing any other game.

"That was not necessarily how we wanted to start," said VCU coach Beth Cunningham.

What's important is how you finish. The Rams finished strong. They also finished disappointed. They lost to Rutgers in a first-round game of the Oklahoma City Region in the NCAA women's basketball tournament.

The Rams had several opportunities to let the game go, and given the venue -- Rutgers' home court where a sea of red-shirted Rutgers supporters were present -- no one would have been surprised if the Rams had done that.

Instead, the Rams came back from that early deficit. Over the last 16 minutes of the first half, they outplayed the Scarlet Knights. Winning was not out of the question, a thought few had when this matchup was announced.

Even when Rutgers opened an 18-point lead with 6:21 left in the game, the Rams refused to yield.

That VCU lost 57-51 is a credit to the leadership of Cunningham and the tenacity of the VCU players. It also helped that Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer pulled most of her starters with about four minutes left in the game.

This was a ferociously competitive affair, so much so that a double technical foul was called on Rutgers center Kia Vaughn and VCU guard Kita Waller with 2 seconds left in the contest.

Tempers cooled quickly and there were high-fives all around when the game was over.

The Rams season is over, but hopes for their ascent are not.

"I believe they'll make it to the tournament again, and I believe they're going to get a win next time," Hollingsworth said.

Hollingsworth has been a cornerstone in the Rams' progression from a 13-15 record in her redshirt freshman season to consecutive 26-victory seasons in her final two seasons.

"Every year, you set more and more goals for yourself, and as a team, you set higher standards for your program," Hollingsworth said. "When I got here five years ago, honestly I couldn't tell you what the goal for the team was. We were just playing day by day. Nobody was really together.

"We all began to play as a team, and we knew where we wanted to get to. This is just another step."

Those steps have been directed by Cunningham, who has spent countless hours building the program, and her staff.

Cunningham was an outstanding player at Notre Dame, where she still holds the women's career scoring record. She played professionally and then embarked on a coaching career.

She is the daughter of a coach -- Bob Morgan, former baseball coach at Indiana University -- so she knew what she would face when she chose her profession.

"As a coach's daughter, you don't know what it's like to have a dad who comes home every day at 5 o'clock or to have weekends free," she said. "I remember my dad sitting down and making recruiting calls even when he was home."

Cunningham lives the same life. A day does not pass, hardly even a minute passes, when she is not thinking about how to improve her program.

VCU has two highly regarded basketball coaches, Cunningham and men's coach Anthony Grant. Many expect Grant to be pursued by big-time programs this offseason.

No one should be surprised if the same is true of Cunningham.

VCU lost the game yesterday, but by playing as they did where they did, the Rams program earned a great deal of credibility.