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Rutgers will face Connecticut, an 67-54 winner over Notre Dame, in tonight's championship game.
Senior guard Cappie Pondexter sparked Rutgers (25-5) by scoring 15 points, and her fadeaway, 17-foot jumper with 1 minute, 20 seconds remaining pushed the Scarlet Knights ahead 57-53. Rutgers made 20 of 21 free throws, including four straight in the final minute.
"We knew going into halftime that there was no way they weren't going to make a run," said Villanova's Jackie Adamschick, who led all scorers with 19 points.
Freshman guard Matee Ajavon had 16 points in the win.
Villanova (19-11) shot 10-for-15 from 3-point range and built a 31-20 halftime lead as seldom-used reserve center Katia Levitsky scored 10 of her career-high 14 points in the first half.
"It's always extremely difficult playing Villanova," said Stringer, the one-time Cheyney coach. "The players are so well disciplined. We were exchanging twos for threes."
Stringer said her team got lulled into playing Villanova's methodical style in the first half, walking the ball up the court instead of looking for fast-break opportunities.
"And then we started taking jump shots," Stringer said. "Why are we going to try to compare ourselves to Villanova? Villanova does what they do because they do what they do so well. That's why they do what they do."
Stringer said she knew beforehand that her team would not be able to sustain the necessary effort to press for an entire game, so she waited. Then the Scarlet Knights pounced.
For nearly five minutes of the second half, Villanova was outscored 15-0, committed five turnovers and managed to take just one shot. It missed, and Rutgers turned a 39-28 deficit into a 43-39 lead. The Wildcats were dumbfounded, and only Villanova coach Harry Perretta pierced the silence of a pro-Wildcats crowd.
"Go to the ball!" he screamed. "Go to the ball!"
Still, Villanova rallied in the final five minutes and pulled within three points before Rutgers sealed the game at the free-throw line.
"I always have a headache at the end of that game (against Villanova)," Stringer said.
Stringer said her players never lost their poise, even during their first-half funk. They know how to deal with adversity.
"Rutgers is a team of hope," Stringer said. "We are hope city. And the reason why we are hope city, everybody should know. Any team that can move at the speeds that we can, that can press like we can - because we honestly believe we have the best pressing defense in this country. Period."
