Vaughn, Carson Strike Gold with USA Basketball
Aug 13 | Women's Basketball
MEXICO CITY, MEXICO - Rutgers' Essence Carson (Paterson, NJ) and Kia Vaughn
(Bronx, NY) struck gold with the USA Basketball team (5-0), winning the FIBA
Americas U20 Championship with a 96-54 victory against Brazil (4-1) in the
final game of the tournament Aug. 12 in Mexico City.
Vaughn contributed 10 points and five rebounds in 14 minutes off the bench
against Brazil. Carson was forced to miss the game due to a minor knee
injury suffered in the previous game Aug. 11 against the Bahamas.
'I can't wait to get back home and celebrate with my family and coaches and
everybody else, but also tonight with this team,' said Vaughn. 'It feels
great. I'm tingling still. I think I could jump out of the building.
'I think that I've grown a lot as a player, and a lot of the things I've
learned I'm going to take back to Rutgers,' Vaughn added. 'I've grown as a
post player, especially. And as a team player.'
'I sat out two years ago, same game--the championship,' said Carson. 'I
broke my hand then. It was like a little deja vue. But I was cheering my
team on the entire 40 minutes.
'I'm proud of the team,' Carson continued. 'We really worked hard to get
here, and it's all over now. We are going home with the gold. That's what
USA Basketball is about--winning gold.'
Featuring six teams from North, South and Central America, as well as the
Caribbean, the top three teams at this summer's Americas Championship (U.S.,
Brazil and Canada) qualified for the 2007 FIBA U21 World Championship that
will be held next year in Guatemala.
This marked the third straight summer that Carson has competed
internationally with Team USA, while it marked the first international
competition for Vaughn. Rutgers was the only school to have two of its
players make the final 2006 USA Basketball roster, and it marks the seventh
straight summer that a current or future Scarlet Knight has played
internationally for the Red, White and Blue.
Carson helped lead Team USA to the gold medal at the 2005 Under-19 World
Championship June 14-24 in Tunis, Tunisia. A starter in all eight games for
the Americans, the 6-0 guard averaged 5.6 points, 2.5 rebounds, 2.4 assists
and 2.4 steals per contest, shooting 51.3 (20-39) percent from the floor.
Carson helped Team USA qualify for the World Championship as a part of the
gold-medal 2004 Women's Junior World Championship Qualifying Tournament Team
that played in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, averaging 8.7 points and 3.3 rebounds
per contest. Carson also helped lead the East Team to the gold at the 2003
Developmental Festival with 5.2 points and 3.6 rebounds per game. She posted
8.3 points and 4.2 rebounds per contest as a Rutgers sophomore this past
season, was selected as the BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year and earned
a spot on the All-BIG EAST Second Team.
Vaughn played for the East Team at the 2004 Developmental Festival,
averaging 7.4 points and 5.8 rebounds per game while ranking second among
all players in blocked shots (2.2 bpg). The 6-4 center posted 6.3 points to
go along with team bests of 7.0 rebounds and 2.1 blocked shots per game as a
rookie Scarlet Knight this past season. She was invited to the 2005 Junior
National Team Trials, but did not participate due to a prior commitment. In
2004, Vaughn competed at the Trials with Carson and Rutgers rising junior
Matee Ajavon (Newark, NJ).
No. 9/9 Rutgers posted a 27-5 overall record last season, advancing to the
regional semifinals of the 2006 NCAA Tournament. The Scarlet Knights
recorded a perfect 16-0 mark in BIG EAST Conference regular-season play to
win their second straight outright BIG EAST regular-season crown.
