It’s been all about the winning at Rutgers, as their women’s team defeated Hofstra on Sunday to improve to 5-0 in the Tri-State South, and drop Hofstra to 4-1.

Head Coach Ken Pape said earlier this season that the program is seriously thinking about moving up to DI, and continued strong performances are how they can get there.

“What has been good is that we have an experienced team, and so we’ve spent a lot of time fine-tuning stuff,” rather than starting from scratch, Pape said. “The players have a good sense of what the game plan is, and we’re playing well against strong opposition.”

Hofstra was one of those teams, as they came into the weekend undefeated and averaging over 70 points a game. For Rutgers to hold them to only one try was impressive. In their five league games, Rutgers has given up 12 points.

But those performances are not all that you need to compete at DI. You also need depth, and Pape said getting as many as 35 to practice is a key piece of the puzzle for the Knights.

“On the field we are getting the depth, and I feel we can be one of the teams in the mix,” said Pape, who is getting some good work from Liz Hussey, who is the pack leader, and former Junior All American scrumhalf Miranda Previte.

Flyhalf Kristen Siano has also been playing well, and the Knights have been blessed with a tough forward pack and speed out wide.

Now comes the big test, as Rutgers faces undefeated Vassar this weekend in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. Vassar, for their part, remains undefeated with a 50-0 defeat of Albany. Prop Darienne Jones and center Cierra Thomas both scored two tries for the Brewers. Thomas leads the team with 11 tries while Mary Margaret McElduff has been accurate with the boot.

Head Coach Tony Brown was complimentary of his team to a point, but noted that it took a while for Vassar to really get going, implying strongly that they can’t afford that against Rutgers.