PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Several former Rutgers women's basketball standouts kick off the WNBA's 12th season this weekend. The Scarlet Knights have six former players on squads in the league, including a pair of rookies.

PONDEXTER (NBA Photos)

Former Rutgers guard Cappie Pondexter, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2006 draft, begins her third season with the Phoenix Mercury. The Mercury are the defending league champions, with Pondexter earning MVP honors in the finals after she scored 26 points and dished 10 assists in the team's Game 5 win over the Detroit Shock last fall.

Pondexter averaged 22 points, three rebounds and nearly six assists per game in her second all-star season. Phoenix opens the season on Saturday, May 17 at 3:30 p.m. against the Los Angeles Sparks – with former RU assistant Marianne Stanley on the bench -  in a nationally-televised game to be aired on ABC. Pondexter will make a trip back east when the Mercury face the New York Liberty at Madison Square Garden on June 22 at 4 p.m.

SUTTON-BROWN (NBA Photos)

Tammy Sutton-Brown and the Indiana Fever open the season Saturday against the Washington Mystics at 7 p.m. One of the most decorated players in Rutgers history, Sutton-Brown (1997-2001) ranks among the top in several all-time categories. She owns a career field-goal percentage of .577, which ranks third in the record book while coming in fifth in the record book in blocked shots.

Sutton-Brown, a seven-year pro, has a lifetime 9.9 points per game average in league play and was selected to her first all-star game in 2007. She averaged 12.0 points and 5.4 rebounds a season ago.

NEWTON (NBA Photos)

Chelsea Newton opens the season with the Sacramento Monarchs on Saturday, entertaining the San Antonio Silver Stars. Newton began her WNBA career with the Monarchs, helping the team to the championship in 2005 as a rookie.

Newton then spent 2006 with the expansion Chicago Sky before returning to the west coast in 2007. The former Knight (2001-05) is averaging 5.7 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game in her professional career, also contributing 5.0 points during playoff action.

Michelle Campbell and her Detroit Shock teammates take on several former RU players in 2008, including Matee Ajavon and the Houston Comets on Saturday for the 3:30 p.m. start to the season.

Campbell, who was one of just two players to who signed a training-camp contract to earn a spot on the team, averaged 8.2 points and 3.8 rebounds per game as a Scarlet Knight. She was voted the BIG EAST's Most Improved Player in 2005.

Campbell will meet former collegiate teammate Pondexter on June 14. The game marks a rematch of the 2007 WNBA finals. Campbell and Pondexter played together from 2002 through 2006, propelling the Scarlet Knights to an Elite 8 and Sweet 16 appearance during their tenure.

Ajavon, beginning her rookie season in the WNBA, begins official play on Saturday. The rookie is fresh off a 26 point explosion –which included a 41-foot three-pointer - in Houston's 72-66 exhibition win over Washington on Wednesday. Ajavon was the fifth overall selection in what was touted as the league's most talented pool of draftees.

AJAVON

Ajavon finished her tenure at Rutgers averaging 12.2 points and 5.2 assists in 33 games as a senior, selected to both the All-BIG EAST First Team and the Greensboro Regional All-Tournament team. She ended her career eighth all-time in scoring and fourth in both steals and assists. Ajavon and Essence Carson will face off against each other for the first time in the professional ranks when their respective teams meet June 6 at Madison Square Garden. The duo will meet again Sept. 2 in Houston.

CARSON

Carson will begin her first season in the league when New York faces the Connecticut Sun on Sunday, May 18 at Madison Square Garden at 4:00 p.m. The contest is being broadcast on MSG.  Carson, drafted seventh overall by the Liberty in April, finished her career "On the Banks" as the three-time BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year, making her mark by consistently marking the opponent's biggest scoring threat.

She finished third on the team in scoring as a senior, with 10.8 points per game and tied for second in rebounding with 5.2 per game. She closed out her career 17^th on the all-time scoring list and 12^th on the rebounding chart. Carson also became the all-time leader in games played this season, entering 133 contests as a Scarlet Knight.

Note: Campbell was waived by the Shock on Thursday, May 15.