Pondexter Named Lieberman Award Candidate
Feb 13 | Women's Basketball
PISCATAWAY, NJ - Rutgers fifth-year senior Cappie Pondexter (Chicago, IL) has been named one of 11 candidates for the Nancy Lieberman Award, given annually to the nation's top point guard. This marks the fourth consecutive year that Pondexter has been selected as one of the nominees for the honor.
The 5-9 guard ranks second nationally in scoring, averaging 22.1 points per game, adding 4.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.8 steals per contest this season. The MVP at the Junkanoo Jam Nov. 25-26 and the KCRG-TV9 Hawkeye Challenge Dec. 3-4, she has also received four BIG EAST Conference player-of-the-week awards (Jan. 2, Jan. 16, Feb. 6, Feb. 13) and six berths on the BIG EAST Honor Roll (Nov. 28, Dec. 5, Dec. 12, Jan. 9, Jan. 23, Jan. 30). Pondexter was a frequent member of preseason honor lists this fall, earning first-team All-America accolades from the Associated Press and Women's Basketball News Service, second-team All-America mentions from Gballmag.com, Lindy's and Athlon Sports, and a spot on the Street & Smith's “Terrific 10” Preseason All-America Team. Named a candidate for all three 2005-2006 national player-of-the-year awards (Naismith, Wade Trophy, Women's Wooden Award), Pondexter is the BIG EAST's Preseason Player of the Year.
Other nominees include: Nikki Blue (UCLA), Lindsay Bowen (Michigan State), Dee Davis (Vanderbilt), Megan Duffy (Notre Dame), Erin Grant (Texas Tech), Lindsey Harding (Duke), Alexis Hornbuckle (Tennessee), Carolyn Kieger (Marquette), Ivory Latta (North Carolina) and Leilani Mitchell (Idaho).
No. 7/8 Rutgers (19-3, 11-0 BIG EAST) will look to earn its 20th win of the season when the Scarlet Knights host Villanova (14-8, 5-6 BIG EAST) Tuesday, Feb. 14. Tipoff at the Louis Brown Athletic Center (8,000) will be at 7:30 p.m.
The game will be shown on a tape-delayed basis on Patriot cable systems, and will be carried live on the Rutgers Radio Network (WCTC 1450 AM and WMTR 1250 AM) and on Rutgers' student station, WRSU 88.7 FM. A live stream of the audio, as well as live statistics, will be available via www.scarletknights.com.
To purchase tickets for Rutgers home contests, call the RU Athletic Ticket Office at 866.445.GORU, visit the Ticket Office at the LBAC or log on to www.scarletknights.com.
