Rutgers’ Stringer becomes fifth D-I women’s coach to 1,000 wins
No. 5 Tennessee men throttle Georgia Tech
PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer joined an exclusive club, reaching 1,000 wins.
Stringer became the fifth Division I women’s basketball coach to achieve the milestone and sixth woman overall when the Scarlet Knights beat Central Connecticut State 73-44 on Tuesday night.
The Hall of Fame coach joined Pat Summitt, Geno Auriemma, Tara VanDerveer and Sylvia Hatchell in the 1,000-victory club. Division II coach Barbara Stevens also has won over 1,000 games. The 70-year-old Stringer is the first African-American coach to reach the milestone.
As the final seconds ran down, the 4,583 fans held up signs that said “CVSK” and chanted the coach’s name. When the final buzzer sounded, red and white confetti rained down onto the court. Her team put the confetti into a Gatorade bucket and dumped it over her head.
Video tributes from all the other living Division I members of the 1,000-win club were played as Stringer sat under balloons that spelled out CVS1K.
The Hall of Fame coach got her career started at Cheyney State in 1971 before moving on to Iowa and finally Rutgers in 1995. Many of her former players were on hand to witness the milestone victory. She’s 1,000-402 in her career. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy was also sitting courtside for the historic win.
South Carolina coach Dawn Staley also made the trip to New Jersey with her staff that included Jolette Law, who was an assistant for Stringer at Rutgers for many years and played for her at Iowa. Staley’s Gamecocks play on Thursday against Clemson. She said she had no doubt in her mind she should be at Rutgers for this game with all that Stringer has meant to African-American coaches. No. 13 IOWA 104, WESTERN KENTUCKY 67: In Bowling Green, Ky., Megan Gustafson scored 29 points, making all 13 of her shots, and Makenzie Meyer made five 3-pointers and scored a career-high 21 points as Iowa beat Western Kentucky.
Gustafson became the second player in program history to surpass 1,000
career rebounds with six boards in the first half. Hannah Stewart added 14 points for Iowa (3-0). No. 16 MISSOURI 65, MISSOURI
STATE 61: In Columbia, Sophie Cunningham and Grace Berg each scored 12 points as Missouri beat Missouri State.
Amber Smith made a jumper from the free-throw line to give Missouri a 55-51 lead with 1:34 to go and Cunningham made two free throws on its next possession for a six-point lead.
Missouri State got it within three points on three occasions after that, the last with 2 seconds left, but Cunningham sealed it at the line. No. 23 CAL 70, BYU 52: In Provo, Utah, Asha Thomas scored 17 points, and Kristine Anigwe had 16 points and 12 rebounds as California (3-0) used a big fourth quarter to beat BYU.
Men
No. 5 TENNESSEE 66, GEORGIA TECH
53: In Knoxville, Tenn., Grant Williams scored 22 points and Tennessee used its stingy defense to beat cold-shooting Georgia Tech.
Tennessee (3-0) was playing one day after moving up a spot in the Top 25 to earn its first top-five ranking since the 2007-08 season.
Georgia Tech (1-1) shot just 27.6 percent from the field — its lowest mark since Josh Pastner took over as coach in 2016.
The Yellow Jackets had nearly twice as many fouls (30) as baskets (16).
No. 22 LSU 85, MEMPHIS 76: In Baton Rouge, La., Skylar Mays scored 19 points and transfer Kavell Bigby-Williams added a career-high 14 as LSU held off a relentless effort by Memphis.
Each of LSU’s three freshmen starters — Naz Reid, Ja’Vonte Smart and Emmitt Williams — scored 11 points.
Williams also grabbed 10 rebounds for the Tigers (3-0), who trailed briefly with about 13 minutes to go. UTAH STATE 94, MISS. VALLEY 59: In Logan, Utah, Brock Miller hit six 3-pointers and put up 26 points as Utah State boosted its record to 3-0 with a triumph over Mississippi Valley State.
The Aggies scored 100 points or more in the first two games of the three-game home stand to start the season, the first time in program history.
Against the Delta Devils, they shot 29 of 50 from outside (58 percent), including 11 of 21 from distance (52.4 percent).
UNLV 72, UC-RIVERSIDE 51: In Las Vegas, Nev., reserve forward Tervell Beck was the only Rebels player in double figures in scoring with 11 points as UNLV (1-1) romped.