Rutgers' Pondexter Finishes Tour with Team USA
Apr 12 | Women's Basketball
CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA - Rutgers fifth-year senior Cappie Pondexter (Chicago, IL) and the USA Basketball Senior National Team dropped a 76-65 decision to host Australia in the final game of the Opals World Challenge April 12 in Canberra. The Americans finished the tournament with a 4-1 record.
Pondexter played eight minutes in the loss to Australia. In her first action of the tournament, she posted five points in nine minutes against Australia April 8, and had two points and a pair of rebounds in an 87-53 victory against China April 10. Against Chinese Taipei April 11, Pondexter posted an assist in seven minutes of action.
The 2006 Women’s Basketball News Service National Player of the Year, Pondexter was a finalist for all three major national player-of-the-year awards (State Farm Wade Trophy, Naismith and Women’s Wooden Award), the Bayer Advantage Senior CLASS Award and the Nancy Lieberman Award (top point guard). She averaged 21.6 points per contest (sixth nationally), adding 4.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.7 steals per game this season. Named to the Kodak/Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) All-America First Team, the Associated Press All-America First Team, the U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) All-America Team, the Senior CLASS Award All-America First Team, the Women’s Wooden Award All-America Team, the Gballmag.com All-America First Team and the ESPN.com All-America First Team, the WBCA National Player of the Month for January was the unanimous choice as the BIG EAST Player of the Year, becoming the first player in league history to be named to the All-BIG EAST First Team four times during her career. The 5-9 guard was selected to the BIG EAST All-Tournament Team for the fourth straight year (22.5 ppg) and earned a spot on the NCAA Tournament All-Cleveland Region Team (22.3 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 3.3 apg). She was the second overall selection of the 2006 WNBA Draft (Phoenix Mercury).
Pondexter helped lead No. 9/9 Rutgers to a 27-5 overall record, advancing to the regional semifinals of the 2006 NCAA Tournament. The Scarlet Knights posted a perfect 16-0 mark in BIG EAST Conference regular-season play to win their second straight outright BIG EAST regular-season crown.
Pondexter was a member of five junior U.S. national teams, most recently competing at the 2005 World University Games in Izmir, Turkey. A co-captain for the Americans, she started four of the seven games, averaging 8.9 points, 3.1 rebounds, 1.4 steals and a team-best 3.3 assists per contest, shooting 46.4 (26-56) percent from the field and 76.9 (10-13) percent from the free-throw line to help lead the U.S. to a perfect 7-0 record and the gold medal. She spent four straight summers (2000-2003) with the USA Basketball program as a member of the U.S. 20-and-Under National Team, leading the Americans to the gold medal at the 2003 FIBA World Championship For Young Women in Sibenik, Croatia. A team co-captain and the starting point guard, she averaged 5.3 points, 1.6 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game. Pondexter won the gold medal at the 2002 World Championship for Young Women Qualifying Tournament in Ribeirao Preto, Brazil, serving as the starting point guard and a team co-captain and posting a tournament-best 6.5 assists-per-game average. Pondexter also 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. 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 and led them to a gold medal in Mardelplata, Argentina.
