The 25th-ranked Rutgers women’s basketball team dropped its 2009-2010 season opener at home Sunday afternoon to number-two Stanford 81-66…and it will be the first of a number of defeats that will translate into a non-NCAA year for head coach Vivian Stringer and her Scarlet Knights.  They simply lost too many important pieces from last year’s team including Epiphany Prince, Kia Vaughn and Heather Zurich and don’t have enough upperclass talent to offset those losses.  I predict that R-U will be 7-7  in its non-conference schedule including losses to Stanford, Georgia, Texas, Tennessee, George Washington and to two of three teams in the Paradise Jam.  (Take your pick.)  Then, in the Big East, the Scarlet Knights will go 8-8.  Don’t forget—even with Prince, Vaughn and Zurich, the Knights were only 9-7 last season.  Then, add in a 1-1 record in the Big East Tournament and you’re looking at a 16-16 record, not even good enough to get into the WNIT.  Hopefully for the Scarlet Knights’ sake, Stringer can get enough consistent quality playing time throughout the season for the likes of Khadijah Rushdan, Nikki Jett and April Sykes and her freshman class to get ready for a better 2010-2011.