Just how dominant are Rutgers Prep girls? The numbers don’t lie: Very

Rutgers Prep girls’ basketball coach Mary Klinger likes to think of the regular season as the pre-season. 

The real season, she says, begins when in what everyone else calls the postseason, in the county tournament, and the NJSIAA state tournament.

But to watch them play in the regular season is a thing of beauty. First they frustrate you, then they wear you down, then they dominate. Rinse and repeat. Night in, night out.

Sure, Prep has had some losses along the way, but it’s usually to the rare team that might have more talent than them. Or just as good, but they had a bad night. It happens to the best of them. But those are few and far between.

And when they do win? It’s almost never a squeaker.

Streaking through Somerset County…

It’s been a long time since the Lady Argonauts lost a game to a Somerset County opponent. 

They have won 43 straight contests against teams within Somerset’s borders, including two wins this season. Their last loss was in the 2019 SCT final to Franklin, 63-49. How good was Franklin that year? Only 32-0, and they won the (sadly now+defunct) Tournament of Champions.

That was also Prep’s last loss to a public school. 

Last 100 Wins…

Prep wins a lot. Since that 2019 county final loss to the Warriors – and Klinger’s good friend Audrey Taylor, who left Franklin after last season and is focusing on AAU ball – they are 99-15.

But in their last 100 wins, which date back to that season, they have won 93 by more than ten points.

• This year, Rutgers Prep has five wins, all by double-digits.
• Last season, out of 25 wins, only two came by fewer than ten points. Both were in holiday events: a 52-47 win over Pickering (OH) in the Tampa Bay Christmas Invitational, and a 68-66 win over South Shore (NY) in the She Got Game Classic.
• In 21-22, Prep won 29 games, the most in that stretch, and again had just two single digit wins: a 48-39 win over Staten Island Academy in the Mecca Lady Chog Challenge, and a 47-43 win over Red Bank Catholic in the Coaches Choice USA College Showcase. Again, both were in showcase type events.
• In 2021, the COVID-shortened year, the Lady Argos went 13-0, winning all by more than ten.
• In 2019-20, three of Prep’s 25 wins were by single digits. The first was a 44-39 road win at Ridge. They also beat Red Bank Catholic 47-41 in a mid-season showcase in late January. And they beat Gill St. Bernard’s by three in the NJSIAA state tournament Non-Public South B semifinals, 59-53.
• In 2018-19, their last three wins were all by ten or more.

But which was the best???

The most impressive of those seasons might have been the COVID-shortened year.

In 13 games, they scored 949 points and allowed only 404. That’s a whopping 41.9 point per game average.

This year’s team is “only” winning by 27.2 points per game. Three have come in showcase style events. And still, this might be one of the most impressive squads Klinger has put together, now in her 40th season at the helm, with an overall record of 693-253.

But remember, in Klinger’s world, this is just the preseason.