Newton, Pondexter Named Naismith Candidates
Nov 09 | Women's Basketball
PISCATAWAY, NJ – Rutgers’ Chelsea Newton (Monroe, LA) and Cappie Pondexter (Chicago, IL) have been named preseason candidates for the 2004-2005 Naismith Award, given annually to the nation’s top women’s college basketball player.
Newton, a 5-11 senior guard, was named Rutgers’s 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). During her three years “On the Banks,” she has started 63 of 71 games, averaging 9.6 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.6 steals per contest.
Pondexter, a 5-9 senior guard, also is a member of the preseason watch lists for the 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.
This marks the first time since 2000-2001 that Rutgers has had two players included on the Naismith preseason list (Tasha Pointer, Tammy Sutton-Brown).
Last season, Rutgers (21-12, 10-6 BIG EAST) advanced to its sixth NCAA Championship in the last seven years and finished as the runner-up at the 2004 BIG EAST Championship. C. Vivian Stringer, who will begin her 10th year at the helm of the Rutgers program this fall just five wins shy of her 700th victory, helped lead Team USA to a gold medal as an assistant coach for the 2004 U.S. Olympic Team in Athens. The 2004-2005 Scarlet Knights were recognized at the conclusion of last season as a team to watch nationally, singled out by Sports Illustrated as one of 10 teams to challenge for the 2005 national title. RU has been included in several preseason polls, including a ranking of 17th in the WBCA/ESPN/USA Today Coaches Top 25 Poll.
Preseason Naismith National Player-of-the-Year Award Candidates
Seimone Augustus, 6-1, Jr., G, LSU
Sherrill Baker, 5-8, Jr., G, Georgia
Jacqueline Batteast, 6-2, Sr., F, Notre Dame
Stephanie Blackmon, 6-2, Sr., F, Baylor
Nikki Blue, 5-8, Jr., G, UCLA
Natasha Brackett, 5-9, Sr., G, Auburn
Jamie Carey, 5-6, Sr., G, Texas
Monique Currie, 6-0, Jr., G, Duke
Jessalyn Deveny, 5-9, Sr., G, Boston College
Shay Doron, 5-9, So., G, Maryland
Shyra Ely, 6-2, Sr., F, Tennessee
Emily Faurholt, 5-11, Jr., F, Idaho
Katie Feenstra, 6-8, Sr., C, Liberty
Katie Gearlds, 6-1, So., G, Purdue
Erin Grant, 5-8, Jr., G, Texas Tech
Sandora Irvin, 6-3, Sr., F, TCU
Dionnah Jackson, 5-9, Sr., G, Oklahoma
Tiffany Jackson, 6-3, So., F, Texas
Tamara James, 5-9, Jr., G/F, Miami
Temeka Johnson, 5-3, Sr., G, LSU
Alexis Kendrick, 5-7, Jr., G, Georgia
Laurie Koehn, 5-8, Sr., G, Kansas State
Catherine Kraayeveld, 6-4, Sr., F, Oregon
Ivory Latta, 5-6, So., G, North Carolina
Camille Little, 6-1, So., G/F, North Carolina
Sancho Lyttle, 6-4, Sr., C/F, Houston
Kristen Mann, 6-2, Sr., F, UC Santa Barbara
Janel McCarville, 6-2, Sr., F, Minnesota
Jessica Moore, 6-3, Sr., C/F, Connecticut
Loree Moore, 5-9, Sr., G, Tennessee
Bernice Mosby, 6-1, Jr., F, Florida
Chelsea Newton, 5-11, Sr., G, Rutgers
Shawntinice Polk, 6-5, Jr., C, Arizona
Cappie Pondexter, 5-9, Sr., G, Rutgers
Noelle Quinn, 6-0, So. G, UCLA
Kathrin Ress, 6-4, So., C, Boston College
Alesha Robertson, 6-0, So., F, Texas Tech
Heather Schreiber, 6-02, Sr., F, Texas
Khara Smith, 6-2, Jr., F, DePaul
Kim Smith, 6-1, So., F, Utah
Ann Strother, 6-2, Jr., G, Connecticut
Kelley Suminski, 5-9, Sr., G, Stanford
Carla Thomas, 6-3, So., F, Vanderbilt
Barbara Turner, 6-0, Jr., G/F, Connecticut
Kendra Wecker, 5-11, Sr., F, Kansas State
Dee-Dee Wheeler, 5-6, Sr., G, Arizona
Tan White, 5-8, Sr., G, Mississippi State
Tanisha Wright, 5-11, Sr., G, Penn State
Sophia Young, 6-1, Jr., F, Baylor
Shanna Zolman, 5-10, Jr., G, Tennessee
