CLEVELAND -- Every morning the Newark Star-Ledger lands on the Anosike doorstep in East Orange, N.J.

On the mornings after Rutgers women's basketball games, Nicky Anosike's phone usually rings in Knoxville.

"It's my mother,'' Tennessee's junior forward explained Monday. "She doesn't hesitate to call me and tell me what's going on and what all the players said.''

And sometimes, Ngozi Anosike might end the call with a question to her daughter: Why didn't you go to Rutgers so you could come home and baby-sit your little brother?

No one needs to call Nicky Anosike this morning to tell her what's going on with Rutgers basketball.

The Scarlet Knights and the Lady Vols are playing for a national championship tonight in Quicken Loans Arena.

Ngozi will be in the stands cheering for her daughter, who will, of course, be wearing orange and white.

It could have been otherwise.

She grew up in the West Brighton housing projects on Staten Island, N.Y., a ferry ride past the Statue of Liberty away from Manhattan. Her senior year at St. Peter's for Girls, the family moved to New Jersey, although Anosike remained enrolled at St. Peter's.

Rutgers, officially known as The State University of New Jersey, was "six or seven stops" away via the NJ Transit trains. Two of her older sisters graduated from Rutgers.

By her senior year at St. Peter's Anosike was blooming into a McDonald's All-American, and did not go unnoticed by Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer.

"I went on a couple of unofficials (visits),'' Anosike said. "But I just wanted to get off the East Coast, to get away from the hustle and bustle of the big city and focus on school and basketball.''

So she came to Tennessee, only to keep running into Rutgers every March. It was a regional finals her freshman year, the Sweet 16 last season.

This time March turned into April. Both teams have advanced to the final 40 minutes of the season.

Rutgers didn't need Anosike's help to get here. The Lady Vols did. Boy, did they ever.

Without Anosike's contributions, Tennessee loses to North Carolina on Sunday night. Done deal.

She scored 14 points, about double her season average, and filled out a swell box score with seven rebounds, five steals, four blocked shots and three assists. She was 8-of-12 at the free-throw line, five of them during UT's clutch rally.

The opening comment on Anosike in the Lady Vols' updated press packet Monday was "had the game of her life" against North Carolina.

"I agree 100 percent,'' said teammate Sidney Spencer. "She by far was the X factor.''

For the first time in her college career, Anosike played all 40 minutes against Carolina. And Tennessee needed her every step of the way, what with Candace Parker in foul trouble and everyone else shooting blanks.

Anosike picked up her second foul midway through the first half, yet UT coach Pat Summitt let her play on.

"I knew she knew when Candace went out that she had to keep herself on the floor,'' Summitt said. "That's where her basketball IQ came into play.''

Tonight, that IQ comes into play one more time as Anosike spars with some old friends.

She played against several of Rutgers' starters in high school and toured to Tunisia in 2005 with Essence Carson on a USA under-19 team.

"She was actually playing point guard for her team at St. Peter's,'' recalled Rutgers guard Matee Ajavon. "She was basically doing it all.''

The 6-foot-4 Anosike doesn't play point guard anymore. But as she proved Sunday night, she can still basically do it all.

And that's why Tennessee is still here tonight, playing against the school six or seven train stops down the line.