Five Scarlet Knights Honored by BIG EAST
Mar 04 | Women's Basketball
HARTFORD, CT - Five members of the No. 9/9 Rutgers women's basketball team (23-5, 14-2 BIG EAST) were singled out for their regular-season accomplishments with awards at the BIG EAST Conference pre-tournament banquet March 4 in Hartford, CT. In all, RU snagged four of the seven specialty awards, and earned a total of five berths on the five all-league teams.
C. Vivian Stringer was named the BIG EAST Coach of the Year, Matee Ajavon (Newark, NJ) was named the Freshman of the Year and earned a spot on the All-Second Team as well as the All-Freshman Team, Michelle Campbell (Princeton, NJ) was selected as the Most Improved Player and earned a spot on the All-Third Team, and Chelsea Newton (Monroe, LA) was picked as the Defensive Player of the Year, earning a spot on the All-Third Team. Cappie Pondexter (Chicago, IL) rounded out the bunch with a selection to the All-First Team.
Stringer earned her second BIG EAST Coach-of-the-Year Award (1998) after leading Rutgers to a 23-5 regular-season record and a 14-2 mark in league play as the Scarlet Knights won their first-ever outright BIG EAST regular-season title. RU, the top seed for the BIG EAST Tournament for the first time in the team's 10 years of conference membership, posted a 7-3 (.700) mark against top-25 competition this season, including three straight wins against top-10 teams during an eight-day span (Dec. 29 - Jan. 5), and notched a perfect 13-0 mark at the Louis Brown Athletic Center this season. Stringer was named a finalist for the Naismith National Coach-of-the-Year Award March 3.
Ajavon, a 5-8 guard, started 13 of 28 games during the regular season, leading the team with 3.4 assists per game and ranking second for the Scarlet Knights with 12.4 points and 2.0 steals per contest. A four-time BIG EAST Freshman-of-the-Week honoree, Ajavon posted 17 double-digit scoring totals (five 20+ points), leading RU in scoring 10 times, in assists 11 times and in steals 10 times during the season. A member of the University of the Virgin Islands Paradise Jam All-Tournament Team (Nov. 25-27), she ranked seventh in steals (1.96 spg), ninth in assists (3.39 apg) and 12th in both scoring and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.01) in the BIG EAST overall statistics. In the conference-only stats, she rated fourth in assists (4.19 apg), tied for eighth in steals (1.88 spg), tied for ninth in scoring (12.6 ppg) and 11th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.14).
Ajavon is the third Scarlet Knight to be named the league's best first-year player. Tasha Pointer (1998) and Pondexter (2003) both were named the BIG EAST Rookie of the Year during their initial campaigns. Ajavon was the only freshman to be named to the All-Second Team this year.
Campbell, a 6-2 junior forward, was the only Scarlet Knight to start all 28 regular-season games, averaging 12.3 points and a team-best 5.9 rebounds per contest. The team leader with 19 double-digit scoring totals (three 20+ points, one 30+ points) and four double-doubles, she was named the Paradise Jam St. John bracket Most Valuable Player (Nov. 25-27) and the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association (MBWA) Player of the Week (Jan. 10). Campbell ranked sixth in offensive rebounds (3.11 pg), 13th in scoring and tied for 16th in rebounding in the BIG EAST overall statistics, and in the league-only rankings, she was tied for sixth in offensive rebounds (3.00 pg), was 15th in scoring (11.8 ppg) and tied for 17th in rebounding (5.6 rpg).
Campbell was Rutgers' first-ever BIG EAST Most-Improved-Player Award winner.
Newton, a 5-11 senior guard, started 25 of 26 games this regular season, averaging 9.3 points, 4.0 rebounds, 2.4 assists and a team-best 2.2 steals per contest. A member of the Paradise Jam All-Tournament Team (Nov. 25-27), she posted 11 double-digit scoring totals during the regular season, ranking third overall (2.19 spg) and third in the conference-only statistics (2.36 spg) in steals. Newton was a preseason candidate for the Naismith National Player-of-the-Year Award and the Bayer Advantage Senior CLASS Award.
Newton became the first Scarlet Knight to be named the BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year.
Pondexter, a 5-9 senior guard, started five of 20 games and averaged a team-best 13.0 points per game to go along with 3.5 rebounds and 3.1 assists per contest. A double-digit scorer in 13 games (three 20+ points), she is a candidate for all three major national player-of-the-year awards (Naismith, State Farm Wade Trophy and Wooden Women's Award) as well as the Nancy Lieberman Award (top point guard), earning a spot on the Preseason All-BIG EAST First Team and the Athlon Sports and Lindy's Preseason All-America Second Teams. Pondexter ranked second in field-goal percentage (.491), tied for fifth in scoring (14.1 ppg), tied for sixth in steals (1.94 spg), eighth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.43), 10th in assists (3.31 apg) and tied for 13th in three-point field goals made (1.31 pg) in the BIG EAST-only statistics.
With this year's award, Pondexter became the first Scarlet Knight to earn three first-team all-BIG EAST nods (2003-2005) during her career.
Rutgers will receive a first-round bye in the BIG EAST Tournament at the Hartford Civic Center, and will begin play in the quarterfinal round Sunday, March 6, at 2:00 p.m. The Scarlet Knights will face the winner of the March 5 first-round game that will pit No. 8 St. John's against No. 9 Seton Hall. RU's game will be shown on CSTV and will be carried on WCTC 1450 AM and WRSU 88.7 FM. A live stream of the radio broadcast will be available on www.scarletknights.com.
2005 BIG EAST Conference Women's Basketball Regular-Season Awards
BIG EAST Player of the Year: Jacqueline Batteast, Notre Dame
BIG EAST Freshman of the Year: Matee Ajavon, Rutgers
BIG EAST Coach of the Year: C. Vivian Stringer, Rutgers
BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year: Chelsea Newton, Rutgers
Most Improved Player: Michelle Campbell, Rutgers
Sportsmanship Award: Jen Hilgenberg, Villanova
BIG EAST Scholar-Athlete: Ashley Bush, Seton Hall
All-BIG EAST First Team
*Meg Bulger, So., G, West Virginia
*Jacqueline Batteast, Sr., F, Notre Dame
Jessalyn Deveny, Sr., G, Boston College
Megan Duffy, Jr., G, Notre Dame
Cappie Pondexter, Sr., G, Rutgers
*Ann Strother, Jr., G, Connecticut
All-BIG EAST Second Team
Jackie Adamshick, So., F, Villanova
Matee Ajavon, Fr., G, Rutgers
Yolanda Paige, Sr., G, West Virginia
Liad Suez, Jr., F, Villanova
Kia Wright, So., G, St. John's
All-BIG EAST Third Team
Ashley Bush, Sr., F/G, Seton Hall
Michelle Campbell, Jr., F, Rutgers
Clare Droesch, Sr., G, Boston College
Charde Houston, Fr., F, Connecticut
Chelsea Newton, Sr., G, Rutgers
Honorable Mention
Jessica Moore, Sr., F/C, Connecticut
Barbara Turner, Jr., F/G, Connecticut
Marcedes Walker, Fr., C, Pittsburgh
All-Freshman Team
Matee Ajavon, Rutgers
Charel Allen, Notre Dame
Charde Houston, Connecticut
Kieraah Marlow, Georgetown
Marcedes Walker, Pittsburgh
* indicates unanimous selection
