PISCATAWAY, NJ – Rutgers junior Cappie Pondexter (Chicago,
IL) has been named the Metropolitan Writers Association Division I Women’s
Basketball Player of the Year for the second consecutive year, the group has
announced.
Pondexter, a 5-9 guard, averaged 17.9 points, 4.6 rebounds, 4.3 assists and
1.8 steals per game for the Scarlet Knights this 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 (Wooden Women’s
Award, State Farm Wade Trophy and Naismith) as well as this year’s Nancy
Lieberman Award (top point guard), Pondexter also was named to the 2004 Kodak/WBCA
All-Region 1 Team, was unanimously selected to this year’s 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. An
honorable mention All-America selection by Kodak/WBCA last season, she twice
was named the BIG EAST Conference Co-Player of the Week this winter, and she
earned a spot on the Preseason WNIT All-Tournament Team.
Pondexter also was the All-Met Player of the Year in 2003, making her the
second Scarlet Knight to be a two-time winner of the award (Shawnetta Stewart – 1999-2000).
The men’s and women’s winners will be honored at the annual NIT/MBWA
Awards Dinner Wednesday, April 21, at Pegasus West at the Meadowlands Racetrack.
The Scarlet Knights (21-12, 10-6 BIG EAST) advanced to their sixth NCAA Championship
in the last seven years, and finished as the runners-up at the 2004 BIG EAST
Championship.
2004 Metropolitan Writers Association Division I Women’s Basketball
Awards
Player of the Year: Cappie Pondexter, Rutgers
Coach of the Year: Brian Giorgis, Marist
First Team
Stephanie DelPreore, Marist
Michele Fahy, Iona
Kim MacMillan, St. John’s
Rosalee Mason, Manhattan
Katie McFarlane, Army
Cappie Pondexter, Rutgers
Second Team
Sue Altman, Columbia
Ashley Bush, Seton Hall
Lindsay Gonzalez, St. Peter’s
Sherry Jordan, Stony Brook
Natalia Marchanka, FDU
Carrie Walker, Wagner
