Former Rutgers Star Newton Wins WNBA Title
Sep 21 | Women's Basketball
PISCATAWAY, NJ – Former Scarlet Knight Chelsea Newton (’05) and her Sacramento Monarch teammates won the franchise’s first WNBA title, defeating the Connecticut Sun 62-59 in Game 4 to win the best-of-five series 3-1.
In the Game 1 victory (69-65), the former Rutgers standout played 20 minutes, scoring six points on 2-for-4 (.500) shooting from the floor.
Newton, who also had a pair of rebounds, made two free throws with 12 seconds remaining to make it a two-possession game (68-63) and ice the victory for the Monarchs. In Game 2, she contributed nine points, two rebounds and three assists in 16 minutes, but the Monarchs fell 77-70 in overtime in Connecticut. Newton played 16 minutes in the 66-55 Game 3 victory, contributing two points, a rebound and a steal, and had three rebounds and an assist in 16 minutes in the title-clinching victory. She started every game this season for the Monarchs.
Prior to Game 1, Newton was announced as one of the five members of the 2005 WNBA All-Rookie Team, joining Temeka Johnson of the Washington Mystics (Rookie of the Year), Katie Feenstra of the San Antonio Silver Stars, Tan White of the Indiana Fever and Kara Braxton of the Detroit Shock.
Sacramento, the Western Conference regular-season champion, swept the Los Angeles Sparks 2-0 in the first round and the Houston Comets 2-0 in the Western Conference Finals. Newton averaged 7.3 points and 1.5 rebounds per contest in those first four playoff games.
Newton, a second-round selection of the Monarchs in the 2005 WNBA Draft, was one of two league rookies to start every regular-season game (Johnson).
Newton averaged 4.4 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 21.0 minutes per game during the regular season, and was used as a defensive stopper, often drawing the toughest assignment on the perimeter. In fact, the 5-11 rookie guard missed a spot on the 2005 WNBA All-Defensive Second Team by just one vote.
The 2005 BIG EAST Conference Defensive Player of the Year and a member of the All-BIG EAST Third Team, Newton averaged 9.4 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.1 steals for Rutgers as a senior, starting 32 of 33 games and posting 15 double-digit scoring efforts. A selection to the University of the Virgin Islands Paradise Jam All-Tournament Team (Nov. 27-29, 2004), she was named Rutgers’ 2003-2004 Most Valuable Player after averaging 11.0 points, 2.9 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game, posting 11 double-digit scoring efforts (two 20+ points). During her four years “On the Banks,” Newton started 95 of 104 games, averaging 9.5 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.8 steals per contest, posting 51 double-digit scoring games (four 20+ points), two double-digit rebounding games and two double-doubles.
