Credit: Nick Romanenko

Coach C. Vivian Stringer at the Louis Brown Athletic Center following the Scarlet Knights' win against DePaul.

C. Vivian Stringer, head coach of the Rutgers women’s basketball team, joined exclusive company on February 27, earning her 800th career victory as Rutgers beat DePaul 60–46 at the Louis Brown Athletic Center in Piscataway.

See ABC News coverage of Coach Stringer's March 5 appearance on Good Morning America.

Watch video of C. Vivian Stringer as she becomes the third female basketball coach to reach 800 wins

Stringer became the eighth basketball coach – and third woman – in history to join the elite 800-win club. With the milestone, she joins only Tennessee head coach Pat Summitt and former Texas head coach Jody Conradt on the women’s side. Coaches Eddie Sutton, Bob Knight, Dean Smith, Adolph Rupp, and Jim Phelan round out the 800-win group. Stringer is the first African-American Division I head coach to reach the landmark.

With a minute left in the game, the athletic center crowd of nearly 5,000, holding signs adorned with “800,” rose to their feet with chants of “CVS!” to salute the Hall of Fame coach. As the clock reached zero, senior Essence Carson tossed the ball – a commemorative, for sure – to her coach.

“I just appreciate that I have the opportunity to do something that few people can do – to work with young people and affect their lives, and to feel success every day when you see them do anything,” Stringer said after the game. “I’m really, really blessed. I’ve been blessed with great players and coaches. Not only from the players that are here, but the players over the years. I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I’ve been the most fortunate person in the world because every day I wake up and I’m so excited to coach basketball.”

On February 28, New Jersey Senators Frank R. Lautenberg and Robert Menendez, joined by Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa, co-sponsored a resolution to honor Stringer on her 800th victory. Stringer coached at the University of Iowa from 1983-1995, including leading the Hawkeyes to a Final Four appearance in 1993.

A native of Edenborn, Pennsylvania, Coach Stringer’s many accomplishments include being inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame and being named by Sports Illustrated as one of the 101 Most Influential Minorities in Sports.

Stringer chronicles her personal triumphs and tragedies in Standing Tall: A Memoir of Tragedy and Triumph (Random House), released nationwide March 4. She told her story on ABC's Good Morning America March 5 and is slated to appear on and HBO Real Sports  Monday, Mar. 10. In addition, Stringer is expected to be featured on Forbes.com and on the Gayle King Show.