College Basketball: C. Vivian Stringer wins 900th; No. 1 Indiana men fall

C. Vivian Stringer became the fourth women's college basketball coach to reach 900 wins as Rutgers cruised past South Florida, 68-56, on Tuesday night in Piscataway, N.J.

Stringer, a Hall of Famer in her 42d season as a head coach, reached the milestone thanks to Erica Wheeler, who scored 24 points to help the Scarlet Knights (15-12, 6-8 Big East Conference) snap a four-game losing streak. South Florida fell to 19-8 and 8-6.

Stringer joined Pat Summitt, Jody Conradt, and Sylvia Hatchell, who reached the mark on Feb. 7. Only three Division I men's coaches have reached 900 victories - Mike Krzyzewski, Bob Knight, and Jim Boeheim.

"I am fortunate to call Vivian my friend, and could not be happier that she has reached the 900-win milestone in her career," Summitt said in a statement.

As the game ended, a crowd of 1,304 at the Rutgers Athletic Center saluted Stringer with chants of "900" and "C.V.S." Scarlet Knights athletic director Tim Pernetti was among the first to greet her with a congratulatory banner.

Rutgers had lost four consecutive games since beating Cincinnati for Stringer's 899th career victory. Stringer, who is 900-330 in her career, also has coached at Iowa and Cheyney.

Notre Dame 79, Syracuse 68 - Kayla McBride scored 25 points, and Skylar Diggins added 24 points and eight assists as the second-ranked Fighting Irish (26-1, 14-0 Big East) overcame a 15-point first-half deficit to beat the No. 22 Orange (22-5, 10-4) in South Bend, Ind.

Connecticut 76, Pittsburgh 36 - Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis had 19 points and 13 rebounds to help the Huskies (26-2, 13-1 Big East) in a rout of the Panthers (9-18, 0-14) in Hartford, Conn.

Honors. Penn State junior guard Maggie Lucas (Germantown Academy) was named the Big Ten women's player of the week after averaging 21.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 3.5 assists in two wins.

St. Joseph's Chatilla van Grinsven and Penn's Alyssa Baron shared Big Five women's player-of-the-week honors.

Minnesota 77, Indiana 73 - Trevor Mbakwe had 21 points and 12 rebounds to help the Gophers take down the No. 1 Hoosiers (24-4, 12-3 Big Ten) in Minneapolis, the seventh time the top-ranked team in the Associated Press' poll has lost this season.

Andre Hollins added 16 points for the Gophers (19-9, 7-8), who outrebounded Cody Zeller and the Hoosiers, 44-30.

Xavier 64, Memphis 62 - In Cincinnati, Brad Redford hit a long three-pointer that put the Musketeers (16-11) back ahead after they wasted a 13-point lead, and the hosts ended the No. 19 Tigers' 18-game winning streak.

Memphis (24-4) had been tied with Akron for the longest winning streak in the nation.