Carson, USA Defeat China
Jun 11 | Women's Basketball
PISCATAWAY, NJ – Rutgers’ Essence Carson (Paterson, NJ) and the USA Basketball Junior National Team defeated China 88-50 in the third round of the International Sports Invitational June 10 at San Diego State University.
Carson, a 6-0 guard, had four points, an assist and two steals in 10 minutes of action off the bench. The U.S. will play Russia in the gold-medal game Saturday, June 11.
The 15 Junior National Team finalists are competing for 12 spots on the Under-19 World Championship roster. USA Basketball will hold additional training sessions June 28 – July 2 in Colorado Springs, CO, July 2-6 in Washington, DC, July 7-10 in Hungary and July 11-14 in Tunisia. The 2005 FIBA Women’s U-19 World Championship will be conducted 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.
Carson started 23 of 35 games as a freshman for Rutgers, 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.
