Cleveland ? There’s no feisty point guard, slam-dunking virtuoso or shot-blocking giant on the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.

This starless, seniorless squad, on an unexpected trip to the Final Four, doesn’t rely on any one player to make the big shot or key stop.

“That’s what makes us dangerous,” guard Matee Ajavon said Saturday. “Anytime you have five people on the floor that can possibly score, rebound, assist, it makes a team dangerous. I think it’s a plus for us.”

The other teams in this Final Four have a marquee player, whether it’s North Carolina’s Ivory Latta, Tennessee’s Candace Parker or LSU’s Sylvia Fowles.

Instead, Rutgers has four starters who share the scoring load. Kia Vaughn, Epiphanny Prince and Essence Carson each average between 12.6 and 12.9 points, and Ajavon adds 11.4.

The Scarlet Knights, though, got to Cleveland with their defense, holding all seven opponents in the Big East and NCAA tournaments to 57 points or less.

It wasn’t until the players bought into coach C. Vivian Stringer’s defense and perfected their in-your-face press that they were able to turn around a season in which they started off 5-5.

Stringer at one point resorted to taking away her players’ locker room, practice gear and anything else that said “Rutgers” on it.

“That was just her saying that we weren’t living up to the Scarlet Knights’ tradition,” said Carson, a junior forward. “We weren’t the warriors that she was used to coaching. And she said she wouldn’t give us our stuff back and she wouldn’t wear school colors until we proved that we played as a team.”

They eventually got their gear back and put together an unlikely trip that included wins over Connecticut for their first Big East tournament championship and top-overall seed Duke in the Greensboro Regional. Both teams had easily handled Rutgers during the regular season.

Now, Rutgers is looking to become just the third No. 4 seed to reach the title game and the lowest seed to win an NCAA title. Stringer says her team is fearless, and she acknowledges that no one expected her players to get this far.

Rutgers center Kia Vaughn (15) helps teammate Rashidat Junaid up from the floor. The Scarlet Knights practiced Sunday in Cleveland. They will face LSU tonight.

“There’s no team I’ve ever coached that has accomplished so much in such a short period of time and so young,” said Stringer, who is seeking her first championship in four Final Four appearances.

That the Scarlet Knights count on five freshmen for significant minutes makes their season even more improbable.

“We just brought a sense of fun,” forward Myia McCurdy said. “All five of us, we’re so silly and goofy.”

While McCurdy jokes in the locker room with fellow freshman Dee Dee Jernigan – who says she already feels like a sophomore after 34 games – Prince is surrounded by reporters. They lean in to hear whether the soft-spoken freshman expected to help lead Rutgers to its second Final Four.

“Not this soon, but we said we’d make it,” Prince said. “It’s overwhelming.”

The freshman starter, who scored 113 points in a high school game, in time could grow into the role of Rutgers’ superstar. But she has more immediate concerns.

“Coach tells us there’s no room to be freshmen anymore,” Prince said. “We can’t wait until we’re sophomores. We have to take this opportunity.”