Carson Helps Lead USA to 97-57 Victory
Aug 09 | Women's Basketball
PISCATAWAY, NJ - Rutgers' Essence Carson (Paterson, NJ) scored seven points and collected a game-high three steals as the USA Basketball team defeated Puerto Rico 97-57 in the opening round of play at the FIBA Americas U20 Championship Aug. 8 in Mexico City.
Carson, a rising junior at RU, started for Team USA and added four rebounds and one blocked shot in 19 minutes of action. Rutgers rising sophomore Kia Vaughn (Bronx, NY) did not take the floor against Puerto Rico due to a minor shoulder injury.
Featuring six teams from North, South and Central America, as well as the Caribbean, the top three teams at this summer's Americas Championship will qualify for the 2007 FIBA U21 World Championship that will be held next year in Guatemala. Due to several teams withdrawing, the Americas Championship schedule has changed to a round-robin format. The U.S. will take on Canada Aug. 9, Mexico Aug. 10, the Bahamas Aug. 11 and Brazil Aug. 12.
This marks the third straight summer that Carson has competed internationally with Team USA, while it marks 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.
