Pondexter Leads Rutgers Past NC State in Junkanoo Championship
Nov 26 | Women's Basketball
RU, leading 51-49 with 4:26 remaining, ended the contest with a 14-7 run to secure the victory. Sophomore Essence Carson (Paterson, NJ) sank a pair of free throws, followed by a basket by Carson and a three-point play by fifth-year senior Cappie Pondexter (Chicago, IL), making the score 58-49 with 2:19 on the clock. A Wolfpack layup, followed by a Carson free throw, led to a Rutgers foul. N.C. State made the first attempt from the charity stripe, but Carson rebounded the miss of the second shot, and found sophomore Tudy Reed (Chicago, IL) streaking up the middle of the court.
Reed finished the fast break with a layup to push Rutgers ahead 60-52 with 1:22 to play. The Scarlet Knights made four of five (.800) free throws down the stretch, and Pondexter drained a 12-footer at the buzzer for the final 66-56 margin.
Pondexter was named the bracket’s Most Valuable Player after scoring 24 points, making all seven of her free-throw attempts, dishing out three assists and collecting three steals. She was joined on the All-Tournament Team by Carson, who contributed 14 points, two steals and a team-high six rebounds. Both Pondexter and Carson played all 40 minutes against the Wolfpack. Senior Michelle Campbell (Princeton, NJ) added 11 tallies, while Reed provided a spark off the bench in the second half, scoring six points in 11 minutes.
Rutgers, which turned the ball over just 11 times, shot 82.6 (19-23) percent from the free-throw line, as opposed to N.C. State’s 58.8 (10-17) percent effort.
The Scarlet Knights will return to Piscataway, hosting Bethune-Cookman in Rutgers’ home opener Tuesday, Nov. 29, at 7:30 p.m. The game will be carried on WCTC 1450 AM and WRSU 88.7 FM, and a live feed of the radio broadcast, as well as live statistics, will be available on www.scarletknights.com.
POSTGAME QUOTES – C. Vivian Stringer
On coming out with more intensity against N.C. State “We were – there’s no question about that. That was good. No time like the present. Like I was telling them, we really haven’t had not even three days of practice with every player on the floor. You look at the little time Ajavon was on the floor and she’s just not in game shape. She’s just not in game shape, so a lot of crazy things were happening out there. But, I think that as we all become more confident – that’s the first time that we played, had to execute and we turned the ball over 11 times. You look at those other games (exhibition and vs. North Florida) we turned the ball over 23 times. That’s just out of character for us, but quite frankly, it seems that when we play better competition we play better.
“It was good because I was beginning to wonder. I haven’t been sleeping very well because I was not sure that we could defend the kind of accolades that we have gotten, but I am encouraged.
On the benefits of playing in the Junkanoo Jam:
“I think it gives us a chance to bond. I think that these guys get a chance to really know a lot more about each other as people, and you walk out of here a little changed. Generally, we have a better understanding. Some of us are crying, some of us are laughing, but ultimately all of us are better off.”
Cappie Pondexter
On winning the tournament
“It’s great, especially as a senior. This is my first time in the Bahamas.
Overall, this is just a great experience. Knowing that this is my last go-round, I just wanted to make the most of it and make sure that Rutgers came out with a victory.”
“It’s great to see that we stepped up to the challenge. Knowing that this is our second game of the season, this is great for us. It’s a great opportunity to play a top-20 team and see where we stand, and I think we showed a lot of maturity.”
Essence Carson
On winning the Junkanoo Jam:
“I feel really great about it. I think the team as a whole played very poised out there tonight. There was a time that we had a little lapse when they went on a little run, but we fought through the run and we held the lead. That’s what great teams do – you get down and you fight to get back.
We took pride in holding the lead because we knew that it would be much tougher if we were to get behind because they are definitely a great team.”
On tonight’s performance vs. the performance against North Florida last
night:
“We feel a lot better in comparison to last night’s game. But, again, it’s still early in the season. This game is just a way to gauge ourselves right now. We know what we have to improve upon, and we know the things we’re not too great at right now. This was just an early test for us. Once again, N.C. State, great team, top-20 program and they came out fighting hard tonight. We had to withstand their blows and that’s exactly what happened.”
Official Basketball Box Score
North Carolina State vs Rutgers
11/26/05 8:30 pm at St. Georges Gym; Freeport, Bahamas
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VISITORS: North Carolina State 2-2
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
01 Khadijah Whittington f 4-10 0-0 6-9 3 4 7 3 14 2 0 0 0 38
15 Ashley Key.......... f 0-4 0-2 0-0 0 1 1 4 0 0 3 0 1 18
44 Tiffany Stansbury... c 7-11 0-0 1-2 5 4 9 4 15 0 2 3 2 28
11 Monica Pope......... g 4-7 1-1 3-6 1 6 7 2 12 6 6 0 1 40
12 Marquetta Dickens... g 1-5 0-1 0-0 1 0 1 2 2 1 5 1 0 24
02 Rachel Stockdale.... 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 3 0 0 0 15
03 Keisha Brown........ 2-6 1-2 0-0 0 1 1 0 5 2 0 0 0 20
32 Tiffany McCollins... 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 1 7
55 Gillian Goring...... 4-5 0-0 0-0 1 2 3 1 8 0 0 2 1 10
TEAM................ 3 3 1
Totals.............. 22-50 2-8 10-17 11 22 33 18 56 14 18 6 6 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 8-20 40.0% 2nd Half: 14-30 46.7% Game: 44.0% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-4 50.0% 2nd Half: 0-4 0.0% Game: 25.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 2-5 40.0% 2nd Half: 8-12 66.7% Game: 58.8% 5,2
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HOME TEAM: Rutgers 2-0
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
05 CARSON, Essence..... f 6-11 0-0 2-3 1 5 6 2 14 1 3 0 2 40
42 THEODORIS, Mariota.. f 0-2 0-0 2-4 1 2 3 5 2 0 1 0 1 16
34 CAMPBELL, Michelle.. c 4-7 0-0 3-4 1 2 3 4 11 1 0 0 1 29
22 AJAVON, Matee....... g 0-3 0-1 4-4 0 2 2 3 4 2 1 0 1 16
25 PONDEXTER, Cappie... g 8-17 1-2 7-7 1 0 1 3 24 3 3 0 3 40
03 LOCKE, Courtney..... 0-1 0-1 0-0 1 3 4 0 0 4 1 1 0 25
15 VAUGHN, Kia......... 2-5 0-0 1-1 1 2 3 1 5 1 2 2 1 23
20 REED, Tudy.......... 3-5 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 0 6 0 0 1 0 11
TEAM................ 3 3
Totals.............. 23-51 1-4 19-23 7 19 26 18 66 12 11 4 9 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-24 41.7% 2nd Half: 13-27 48.1% Game: 45.1% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 0-1 0.0% 2nd Half: 1-3 33.3% Game: 25.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 7-9 77.8% 2nd Half: 12-14 85.7% Game: 82.6% 1
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Officials: Susan Blauch, Bill Titus, Dennis DeMayo
Technical fouls: North Carolina State-None. Rutgers-None.
Attendance: 244
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
North Carolina State.......... 20 36 - 56
Rutgers....................... 27 39 - 66
Rutgers wins Freeport Division of the 2005 Junkanoo Jam.
