CLEVELAND — C. Vivian Stringer fluctuated between stoic confidence and utter disbelief.

Her inexperienced Rutgers team, with five freshman and no seniors, had just crushed LSU and earned its first trip to the NCAA championship game.

This just isn't the year that she, or anyone else, expected Rutgers to have.

"I do believe this is a team of destiny and there's a sense of calm," said Stringer, a Slippery Rock University graduate.

Rutgers' improbable season continued with a dominating 59-35 victory over LSU on Sunday night. Up next is powerhouse Tennessee, which rallied from 12 points down in the second half to beat North Carolina 56-50.

Stringer, the first coach to take three teams to the Final Four, has another shot at her first title — 25 seasons after taking Cheyney to the championship game.

She's doing it with first-year players who may not realize how rare an opportunity they have.

"We haven't really pounded it into their heads this is the Final Four," Stringer said. "My God, it's the Final Four."

The Scarlet Knights have a chance to make history for a school that last earned an NCAA team championship in 1949 — sharing a fencing title with Army.

Swarming defense and a hot touch behind the arc blew out LSU, which scored the fewest points ever in the Final Four — Louisiana Tech had 44 vs. Tennessee in '87 title game.

Matee Ajavon scored 16 points and hit four 3-pointers to help Rutgers build an insurmountable first-half lead.

The Scarlet Knights (27-8) hounded 6-foot-6 Sylvia Fowles, who appeared aggravated by the relentless defenders. She was held to five points, which tied a season low, and seven rebounds.

"Not taking anything from Rutgers' defense, but I don't feel that they had to do much," Fowles said. "I just think I had a sluggish game from the get-go."

The Lady Tigers (30-8) ended a surprising tournament run behind acting head coach Bob Starkey, who was thrust into the job when coach Pokey Chatman abruptly resigned March 7 amid allegations of improper conduct with one or more former players.

Frustrated with the team's poor defensive play early in the season, Stringer took away the team's locker room privileges last December for a month.

Now, they are the third No. 4 seed to reach the championship.

In the closing minutes of Sunday's game, the Rutgers crowd chanted Stringer's initials "C-V-S" as she high-fived an assistant. After the final buzzer, the entire staff hugged Stringer.

"Wow. That's the best word to describe what happened here," Stringer said. "We talked about believing in what we know. No one expected us to be here, but these players believe in themselves."