NEWARK -- The plea for help came in a letter delivered to C. Vivian Stringer at the Rutgers women's basketball office in April 2010. It was written by someone fearing the loss of her livelihood and wasted little time getting to the point.

"Dear Coach Stringer," the letter read. "Would you please consider investing 25k in my business?"

It was signed by Lynn Kennedy, who was recruited out of Newark to play for Stringer at the University of Iowa in the 1980s, the second of Stringer's three head coaching stops during a 44-year career in women's college basketball.

Stringer would agree to loan her former player the money a month later at an interest rate of 18 percent. But when Kennedy fell behind on her payments, her old coach sued her, and tried to foreclose on the property that housed her Irvington seafood restaurant, "Uncle Seas."

Lawsuits and court filings offer a glimpse at the legal tug of war between Stringer and Kennedy that's played out quietly in New Jersey's state and federal courts over the past two years.

Both sides agreed to settle their differences last week after a conference held before Magistrate Judge James Clark in U.S. District Court.

The terms of the settlement agreement are bound by a confidentiality agreement, both sides say. But sources involved in the negotiations say Kennedy will get to keep her restaurant and pay back what she owes at a more favorable interest rate.

A Rutgers spokesman said Stringer is traveling out of the country and would not be available to comment. Her attorney, James Curran, declined comment. And Kennedy declined to comment when contacted by NJ Advance Media

Stringer had remained a role model for Kennedy who, in 2007, traveled with a teammate to Cleveland to see her ex-coach's Rutgers team participate in the NCAA Women's Final Four.

"It's the impact she's had on so many women's lives, and it's not always about the sport, it's about the development of a young woman," Kennedy told the Star-Ledger on the eve of that Final Four. "You can trace a lot of characteristics and development right back to her. Some things you didn't understand when you were younger, like all the demands. But once you get out into the world and start working on your own, then it all makes sense."

Over the course of her career, Stringer has contended with a number of challenges in her personal life, while she was taking three different college teams to the Final Four. There was the 1992 death of her husband to a heart attack, a daughter's spinal meningitis and her own battle with breast cancer.

Kennedy alluded to them in the April 2010 letter.

"I cringe at the thought of bringing my problems to you," Kennedy wrote. "You have had your share of difficulties, challenges and problems. I have always aspired to deal with problems as gracefully as you have. I use you as a standard of measurement for the way that I try to deal with adversity. I never envisioned crying to you about my obstacles. For the most part, I have always found solutions. However, this predicament is beyond my control. I had no other choice but to reach out for help."

Kennedy lamented the "dismal" economic climate that had banks refusing to lend money to small businesses like hers as well as outstanding property taxes that put her at risk of losing the property that housed "Uncle Seas" after 16 years in business.

A month after Kennedy's letter arrived, Stringer agreed to loan Kennedy $32,400 at an annual interest rate of 18 percent, according to court papers. It would have to be paid back after two years.

Kennedy also agreed to have the loan secured by a mortgage on the "Uncle Seas" property on Springfield Avenue, court papers show. Monthly payments of $491.65 would be made until July 2012 when the note would come due, the court papers say.

But by October 2011, Kennedy had defaulted on payments on the loan, according to the lawsuit Stringer filed in the chancery division of the state Superior Court in Essex County.

Kennedy paid a portion of what she owed in April 2013, sending Stringer a $5,000 check and a note, according to a letter she wrote the coach in longhand.

"Dear Coach S," it began. "I am selling furniture, fixtures & equipment inside the restaurant in efforts to repay you," Kennedy wrote in the letter, which Stringer's lawyers included in a court filing.

"As the contents are sold, all funds will be forwarded to you," she added. "I recognize you have been overly patient in efforts to assist me. You did not sign up for this delay in repayment and really I don't blame you for applying heat to recover money loaned.''

It concluded: "Yours, Lynn K. "

Kennedy noted that she had already repaid "7 or 8k" to the Central Jersey Development Corp. which was to go towards the loan repayment.

Cedric Ashley, a lawyer for the corporation, said Stringer used the corporation to collect on the debt so she could keep her focus on coaching basketball.

Two months later, in June 2013, Stringer sued her former player, seeking to foreclose on the "Uncle Seas" property and collect the money.

A judge entered a default judgment in Stringer's favor in October 2014, Stringer's attorneys claimed.

Kennedy then sued her old coach in federal court in November 2014, claiming Stringer misled her about the source of funding for the loan.

Kennedy named as defendants Stringer, as well as the Central Jersey Development Corp., the First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens in Somerset and its pastor, former New Jersey Secretary of State De Forest "Buster" Soaries Jr.

In 2007, Soaries, Stringer's pastor, acted as a go-between, setting up a meeting between the Rutgers University women's team and Don Imus after the radio host referred to the team in racially derogatory terms on the air. Soaries did not return a phone call requesting a comment.

Kennedy, acting as her own lawyer, claimed that while she thought the loan was coming out of Stringer's personal accounts it was paid for by the First Baptist Church and Central Jersey Community Development.

"Plaintiff submits and contends that the mortgage was fraudulent because it was not C. Vivian Stringer's money, nor was the mortgage actually secured to C. Vivian Stringer," Kennedy wrote in February 2015.

Ashley says there is no basis for the allegation.

He noted that the allegations against Soaries, the corporation and the church were dismissed by a judge in the federal lawsuit brought by Kennedy.

"Basically the case is resolved and she has the opportunity to repay Stringer," Ashley added.

Stringer's lawyers, in their response to Kennedy's lawsuit, claimed it was Kennedy who suggested the 18 percent rate when she first asked to borrow money.

Her April 2010 letter, which Stringer's lawyers included in their court papers, appear to confirm that.

"Please know that I maintain 100 % ownership of the property with no outstanding mortgage, liens or encumbrances," Kennedy wrote in the April 2010 letter to Stringer. "Since the recession, banks have stopped lending to small businesses. For the first time in the past 2 years, I see increased sales. I see no problem in returning all money loaned over a 2 year period. I would be more than happy to provide you with an 18 % return on all money loaned."

Under criminal laws in New Jersey, the maximum allowed rate for non-corporate borrowers is 30 percent, according to the State Department of Banking and Insurance. However, under civil usury laws, the maximum allowed rate is 16 percent for written contracts. In cases where the rate exceeds 16 percent, a judge could intercede and determine that the borrower would be required to pay back the loan only at the maximum rate, state officials say.

"Uncle Seas" has been closed for some time but according to Charles Lincoln, an adviser to Kennedy in her legal battle, she has plans to reopen now that her legal tussle with her old coach is behind her.

"She wants to go back to work," Lincoln said.

Thomas Zambito may be reached at tzambito@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TomZambito. Find NJ.com on Facebook.