STORRS, Conn.-The constant booing from the Connecticut faithful didn’t bother Cappie Pondexter or Rutgers.

Pondexter scored 22 points and hit five straight shots in an early 21-2 run, leading the third-seeded Scarlet Knights to a 62-37 victory over Hartford yesterday in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

The victory was the 11th in 12 games for Rutgers (26-6), and it advanced to a rematch tomorrow against Temple. The Owls beat Rutgers 71-60 on December 13, when Pondexter, the Scarlet Knights’ leading scorer, wasn’t with the team for undisclosed reasons.

Pondexter was outstanding yesterday, hitting 10-of-15 shots from the field. The crowd at rival Connecticut’s home court booed her every time she touched the ball or had her name announced.

The bad feelings were the result of Pondexter’s run-in with UConn coach Geno Auriemma late in Rutgers’s loss to the Huskies in the finals of the Big East Tournament. Pondexter felt Auriemma said something derogatory and confronted him during the post-game handshakes. The conference investigated and found Auriemma did nothing wrong.

Fourteenth-seeded Hartford (22-9) is coached by former UConn star Jen Rizzotti, who is expecting her first baby April 11.

“Obviously the fans in this state are very loyal,” Rizzotti said. “They are going to get fired up about somebody who attacks their head coach. You know how Geno’s god around here, so when somebody attacks him it’s like they’re an enemy of the state.”

Auriemma’s Huskies routed Dartmouth 95-47 in the first round of the NCAAs Storrs, Conn., yesterday. The Huskies (24-7) will play Florida State in the second round tomorrow.

The Huskies have turned the postseason into their own private victory parade the last three years and have been nearly unstoppable at home. UConn is 26-1 in NCAA tournaments at Gampel Pavilion and has not lost a first-round game here since 1993.

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SUMMITT TIES NCAA WINS MARK

Tennessee coach Pat Summitt’s latest milestone victory was similar to so many others in her illustrious 31-year career.

The Lady Vols’ 94-43 rout of Western Carolina in an NCAA first-round game last night was win no. 879 for Summitt, tying her with Dean Smith for the most victories in NCAA Division I history.

Former North Carolina coach Smith set the record in 1997, and Summitt could surpass it tomorrow against Purdue in the second round.

Summitt has been at the top of the women’s game for years with six national titles and 15 Final Four appearances.

“I have so much respect and admiration for coach Smith. This is more than just a number,” Summitt said after the game.

Fittingly, Summitt tied Smith on Tennessee’s home court at Thompson-Boling Arena, where the Lady Vols are 252-14 since it opened in 1987. Tennessee has never lost an NCAA game in Knoxville, going 45-0 since the women’s tournament began in 1982. And this is the most appropriate time of year for Summitt, who tops all women’s coaches with an 86-17 NCAA tournament record.