Pondexter Named Women's Wooden Award Preseason Candidate
Aug 11 | Women's Basketball
PISCATAWAY, NJ - Rutgers' Cappie Pondexter (Chicago, IL) has been named one of 30 preseason candidates for the 2005-2006 Wooden Women's Award, given to the national player of the year in women's college basketball.
Pondexter, who will be a fifth-year senior for the Scarlet Knights this fall, currently is competing with Team USA at the World University Games in Izmir, Turkey, her fifth appearance with a U.S. national team in international competition.
The 5-9 guard was a candidate for three 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 (honorable mention), 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 Region's Most Outstanding Player. She averaged 14.7 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game last season, posting 19 double-digit scoring efforts (seven 20+ points) in 27 appearances.
During the 2003-2004 campaign, Pondexter was named to the Associated Press and Full Court Press All-America Third Teams, and was an honorable mention Kodak All-American. A finalist for all three major national player-of-the-year awards (Naismith, State Farm Wade Trophy, Wooden Women's Award), as well as the Nancy Lieberman Award, she earned her second first-team all-BIG EAST certificate in 2004. She was an honorable-mention All-America pick by the Associated Press in 2003.
Rutgers posted a 28-7 overall record and a 14-2 mark in BIG EAST Conference play last season, winning its first outright BIG EAST regular-season title and advancing to its second consecutive BIG EAST Tournament championship game. The Scarlet Knights advanced to the Elite Eight of the 2005 NCAA Tournament.
