A year ago at this time, Sade Logan sat on the bench watching Robert Morris win the Northeast Conference women's basketball championship.

She couldn't wait to be on the court.

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• PDF: 2008 NCAA Women's Division I Bracket

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Two days ago, Logan, a 6-foot junior who didn't play in 2006-07 because of academic reasons and a shoulder injury, helped lead Robert Morris to its second consecutive NEC title with an 86-75 victory against Long Island University at Sewall Center. Logan, who entered as the second-leading scorer in Division I with a 25.4 average, had 18 points despite being the target of a gimmick defense by Long Island.

Chinata Nesbit, a 6-2 senior who was the tournament MVP, had 15 points, 16 rebounds, 8 assists and 3 steals as the Colonials stretched their school-record winning streak to 17.

Robert Morris (23-9), seeded 15th, will meet No. 2 Rutgers (24-6) in the opening round of the NCAA tournament at 2:30 p.m. Saturday in Des Moines, Iowa. An NEC team has never won a game in the NCAA tournament in the 14 years in which the conference has received an automatic bid.

Rutgers, the national runner-up last season, is led by 5-9 Epiphanny Prince (13.7 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 74 steals) and 5-8 Matee Ajavon (12.3 ppg, 4.9 apg).

The Colonials were overwhelmed by the emotion and the magnitude of their first trip to the NCAAs last year when they lost to North Carolina State, 84-52, at Raleigh, N.C.

"I told the kids in the locker room after the Long Island game, 'Do not settle.' It's great to go back-to-back [to the NCAAs], but we do not want to settle," coach Sal Buscaglia said. "We want to go to the NCAA tournament to win, not just show up. And that's what I think is a little bit different."

This is a different year and most certainly a different team with the addition of Logan, who started her collegiate career at Kentucky and was the player of the year in the Tennessee Junior and Community College Athletic Association at Chattanooga State in 2006.

With Logan and Nesbit (15.6 ppg) leading the way, the Colonials prefer an up-tempo style with a crisp pass-and-cut half-court offense that often produces a driving layup or a kick-out for a 3-point attempt. They were more deliberate with a stronger inside game last season.

"We just have to go out there with a killer instinct," Nesbit said.

Buscaglia is counting on a brutal non-league schedule that had the Colonials losing a lot of games on the road against a number of teams from marquee conferences to toughen them for the NCAA tournament.

"When you look at our schedule, for a mid-major team to play teams from big conferences, you don't see that too often," he said. "We did that on purpose."