Pondexter, Carson Finalists for USA Basketball Teams
May 22 | Women's Basketball
COLORADO SPRINGS, CO - Rutgers' Cappie Pondexter (Chicago, IL) and Essence Carson (Paterson, NJ) have been named finalists for two USA Basketball Teams set to compete internationally this summer. Pondexter is one of 16 finalists for the USA World University Games Team, while Carson is one of 15 finalists for the USA Under-19 World Championship Team.
Pondexter, a 5-9 guard, was a candidate for three 2005 national player-of-the-year awards (Naismith, State Farm Wade Trophy, Wooden Women's
Award) as well as the Nancy Lieberman Award (top point guard) and Bayer Advantage Senior CLASS Award. Pondexter also was named to the 2004-2005 Associated Press (third team), Full Court Press (third team) and Kodak/Women's Basketball Coaches Association (honorable mention) All-America Teams, the Kodak/ WBCA All-Region 1 Team, the BIG EAST All-First Team and the BIG EAST All-Tournament Team, and was the NCAA Tournament Philadelphia Regional's Most Outstanding Performer. She averaged 14.7 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game this season, posting 19 double-digit scoring efforts (seven 20+ points) in 27 appearances.
'I'm honored as always,' said Pondexter. 'It's good to represent the country during the summer. It's good to meet new friends and bond with other great players.'
Pondexter, who will be a fifth-year senior on the Scarlet Knight squad next fall, spent four straight summers with the USA Basketball program as a member of the U.S. 20-and-Under National Team. She led the Americans to the gold medal at the 2003 FIBA World Championship For Young Women in Sibenik, Croatia, serving as the team co-captain and the starting point guard while averaging 5.3 points, 1.6 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game. Pondexter won a gold medal at the 2002 World Championship For Young Women Qualifying Tournament in Ribeirao Preto, Brazil, posting a tournament-best 6.5 assists-per-game average as the starting point guard and a team co-captain.
She tallied 8.8 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game and shot 51.9 (14-27) percent from the field and 62.5 (5-8) percent from three-point range at the 2002 qualifying tournament. As a member of the 2001 U.S. Junior National Team, she won a bronze medal at the FIBA World Junior Championships in Prague, Czech Republic, and she also was a member of the 2000 U.S. Junior World Championship Qualifying Team that struck gold in Mardelplata, Argentina.
Carson, a 6-0 guard, started 23 of 35 games as a freshman, ranking fifth for the Scarlet Knights in scoring (6.6 ppg) and second in rebounding (5.5 rpg).
A member of the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association (MBWA) All-Second Team, she was named the BIG EAST Conference Freshman of the Week Jan. 10.
Carson helped lead the 2004 U.S. Women's Junior World Championship Qualifying Team to a gold medal in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, averaging 8.7 points and 3.3 rebounds per game. She also played on the 2003 USA Basketball Youth Development Festival East Team that won a gold medal.
Sixty of the nation's top players participated in the trials May 19-22 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, CO. The final selections for both 12-member teams will be announced following the team's upcoming training camps.
The 2005 FIBA Women's U-19 World Championship is scheduled to run July 15-24 in Hammamet and Tunis, Tunisia. To be eligible for the 2005 team, an athlete must have been born on or after Jan. 1, 1986.
The World University Games, held every two years, is a multi-sport competition open to men and women between the ages of 17 and 28 (born between Jan. 1, 1977, and Dec. 31, 1987) who are, or have been within the last year, a student at a college or university. The 2005 World University Games will be held Aug. 11-21 in Imzir, Turkey.
