PISCATAWAY -- The chants of "C-V-S" began Tuesday evening at the RAC with 5:54 to play in the fourth quarter, the Rutgers women's basketball having put away Central Connecticut long before.

Before those chants, the building looked and felt like it was, well, a November Tuesday against a Northeast Conference opponent, but it came alive with those chants. Upon the announcement of 1:00 remaining, the place got a little louder, history then imminent.

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Final buzzer, mob scene on the home sideline, smiles, confetti, and a true historical moment for basketball, regardless of gender.

With a 73-44 win over the Blue Devils, C. Vivian Stringer became the fifth Division I women's coach in college basketball history to reach 1,000 career wins. The late Pat Summit of Tennessee, Stanford's Tara VanDerveer, Connecticut's Geno Auriemma, and North Carolina's Sylvia Hatchell are the other five to reach 1,000.

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Duke's Mike Krzyzewski is the only Division I coach on the men's side with 1,000 wins.

As is generally the case with these things, there was plenty of pomp and circumstance. Prominent Rutgers coaches Chris Ash, Steve Pikiell, and Scott Goodale were among the dignitaries present. Gov. Phil Murphy, complete with a Rutgers pullover, took in the action, as did a slew of former Stringer coaching disciples and players, Scarlet Knight all-timers Epiphany Prince and Matee Ajavon the headliners.

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Hobbs said a few words postgame, as did Murphy. Congratulatory video messages were played on the scoreboard, highlighted by those of the announced crowd of 4,583 that stuck around booing Auriemma. Fair enough. Stringer and Auriemma fought wars for Big East supremacy years ago, so it was only right he got booed.

A banner commemorating the achievement was presented to her, a nice touch considering she is already responsible for some of the most-prominent banners in the building. Under Stringer's watch, Rutgers went to the 2000 Final Four, and advanced to the national title game in 2007, where the Scarlet Knights lost to Summit and the Volunteers.

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With the floor covered in confetti, not to mention people, Stringer finally took the microphone, and as she sometimes tends to do, she went on for a while, and that's OK. The night belonged to her, live a little.

Seventy-eight minutes after the final buzzer sounded, Stringer finally appeared in the interview room, on the lower level of the RAC, just off the playing floor.

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Her emotions about the end of the game, her reaction to the video tributes, some reminiscing about the Cheyney State days when she was just starting out in the 1970's all came up. There was talk of nerves about these first three games, trying to get past 1,000 and on with this season. She voiced her concerns about that, then expressed relief that it was all over.

Finally, a tongue-in-cheek question came about going for 2,000 wins. Stringer actually seemed to contemplate the math on that for a moment. She then realized how long that would take.

Upon that realization, she offered one last smile.

Staff writer Josh Newman: jnewman@app.com; @Joshua_Newman