Rutgers' Newton, Pondexter Named Senior CLASS Candidates
Nov 29 | Women's Basketball
PISCATAWAY, NJ – Rutgers’ Chelsea Newton (Monroe, LA) and Cappie Pondexter (Chicago, IL) have been named candidates for the 2004-2005 Bayer Advantage Senior CLASS Award, given annually to the nation’s senior player of the year in women’s college basketball.
Newton, a 5-11 senior guard, was named Rutgers’ Most Valuable Player last season, despite missing 12 games due to injuries. She averaged 11.0 points, 2.9 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game a year ago, posting 11 double-digit scoring efforts (two 20+ points). A preseason candidate for this year’s Naismith National Player-of-the-Year Award, she is averaging 12.8 points, 3.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists through Rutgers’ first four games, and was named to last week’s University of the Virgin Islands Paradise Jam All-Tournament Team.
Pondexter, a 5-9 senior guard, also is a member of the preseason watch lists for the Naismith Award, Wade Trophy and Wooden Women’s Award. She averaged 17.9 points, 4.6 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.8 steals per game for the Scarlet Knights last season, earning All-America honors from the Associated Press (third team), Full Court Press (third team) and Kodak/Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (honorable mention). A finalist for three national player-of-the-year awards (Women’s Wooden Award, State Farm Wade Trophy and Naismith) as well as the Nancy Lieberman Award (top point guard) last year, Pondexter also was named to the 2004 Kodak/WBCA All-Region 1 Team, was unanimously selected to the All-BIG EAST First Team, and earned a spot on the BIG EAST All-Tournament Team after averaging a tourney-best 23.3 points per game in leading RU to a runner-up finish.
The top 30 senior men and women were announced as candidates today. A national media committee will select 10 finalists in February, and national fan votes will be combined with votes from coaches and the media to determine the winners.
The Scarlet Knights (4-0), ranked 16th in this week’s Associated Press Top 25 Poll (Nov. 29), will attempt to give head coach C. Vivian Stringer her 700th career victory Dec. 5 at Old Dominion.
Preseason Bayer Advantage Senior CLASS Award Candidates
Jacqueline Batteast, University of Notre Dame
Nikita Bell, University of North Carolina
Steffanie Blackmon, Baylor University
Natasha Brackett, Auburn University
Ashley Burke, Gonzaga University
Jamie Carey, University of Texas
Jessalyn Deveny, Boston College
Shyra Ely, University of Tennessee
Katie Feenstra, Liberty University
Kristin Haynie, Michigan State University
Sandora Irvin, Texas Christian University
Dionnah Jackson, University of Oklahoma
Temeka Johnson, Louisiana State University
Lauri Koehn, Kansas State University
Cathrine Kraayeveld, University of Oregon
Sancho Lyttle, University of Houston
Kristen Mann, California - Santa Barbara
Caity Matter, Ohio State University
Janel McCarville, University of Minnesota
Jessica Moore, University of Connecticut
Loree Moore, University of Tennessee
Chelsea Newton, Rutgers University
Cappie Pondexter, Rutgers University
Heather Schreiber, University of Texas
Charlene Smith, DePaul University
Kelley Suminski, Stanford University
Kendra Wecker, Kansas State University
Dee-Dee Wheeler, University of Arizona
Tan White, Mississippi State University
Tanisha Wright, Penn State University
