Carson, Vaughn Grab Gold
Jul 08 | Women's Basketball
July 8, 2007- Rutgers' Essence Carson (Paterson, N.J.) and Kia Vaughn (Bronx, N.Y.) hit gold with the USA Basketball team (8-0), winning the FIBA U21 World Championship with a 96-73 triumph over Australia on Sunday night in Moscow, Russia.
Carson tallied 12 points, adding seven rebounds and two steals to her line score. The rising senior went 6-of-7 from the field in 24 minutes. Vaughn saw 11 minutes of action, grabbing three rebounds in the championship game.
Over the eight games, Carson averaged 5.9 points and 3.3 rebounds in 19.3 minutes per game. Vaughn saw 13.8 minutes in eight games, averaging 4.1 points and 3.9 boards.
"I had a rush on the medal stand. I was so excited I think I could have done back flips," Vaughn said. "When we first stepped on the floor (in June), we were sluggish because none us had played together except for teammates. As time went (by), we practiced well and got chemistry. We match well together. We should be a college team (laughing).'
Team USA commenced the event on June 29, just getting by Australia by a 90-88 score.
Vaughn said of the all-star squad, "As weeks went by, we grew. We would watch film we were like, oh, look, at our defense. We are so much better. We were happy to come in with them (Australia) and to leave with them, too."
This marked the fourth straight summer that Carson has competed with Team USA, while it marked the second consecutive international summer of play for Vaughn. Rutgers was one of two schools to have two of its players make the final 2007 USA Basketball roster. It marked the eighth straight summer that a current or future Scarlet Knight has played internationally for the U.S.
This age group (players born on or after Jan. 1, 1986) closes out its FIBA age-based competition with four gold medals and an undefeated mark of 26-0 in official FIBA and FIBA Americas tournaments.
They won gold at the 2004 FIBA Americas U18 Championship (5-0), 2005 FIBA U19 World Championship (8-0) and 2006 FIBA Americas U20 Championship (5-0). Additionally, they captured gold at the 2005 International Sports Invitational (4-0), earned a 3-0 slate in exhibition play against France this year and split a pair of games against Hungary prior to the '05 U19 Worlds.
"It is just unbelievable how much talent has come from the class of '08 and '09," Carson said after the game. "We play a game which no one is a superstar, we play that is very unselfish and I think that is what puts us forward throughout those four years. I am just so happy we won the gold medal, yet again."
Rutgers posted a 27-9 overall record last season, advancing to the 2007 National Championship game for the first time in program history. The Scarlet Knights won their first-ever BIG EAST tournament title and finished No. 2 in the final USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll.
