Cappie Pondexter Selected to U.S. Olympic Team
May 31 | Women's Basketball
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Former Rutgers standout Cappie Pondexter has been named a member of the 2008 U.S. Women's Olympic Basketball Team, it was announced by USA Basketball this afternoon.
Pondexter, competing in her first Olympic games, was one of nine names revealed on Saturday in a press conference in Washington, D.C. The USA Basketball Women's Senior National Team Committee will finalize the 12-member team by July 1.
"All the training segments were really competitive from start to finish, playing against the other teams, all the traveling," Pondexter said of the competition and training leading up to this moment. "Even way back in Brazil two years ago, so there's been a lot of hard work and dedication put into this. Finally seeing it coming to this is exciting for me. I'm ready to get started and represent the USA."
The defending Olympic champs, the USA women will be vying for a fourth consecutive Olympic gold in Beijing August 9-23. Since women's basketball was officially staged at the 1976 Olympics, the Americans have collected five gold medals, one silver and one bronze medal, while compiling a 42-3 (.933) overall record in seven Olympic appearances (the United States chose not to participate in the 1980 Olympic Games).
Pondexter is joined on the elite roster by several familiar faces, including Phoenix Mercury teammate and former Connecticut standout Diana Taurasi. The duo played a key role in the USA's Olympic qualifying berth at the 2007 FIBA Americas Championship in Valdivia, Chile where only the winner earned the right to advance to Beijing. The Mercury pair along with Seimone Augustus, Sue Bird, Candace Parker, Katie Smith, and Tina Thompson captured gold with an unblemished 5-0 record in the qualifying run, defeating Cuba in the final 101-71.
The No. 2 overall pick in the 2006 draft, Pondexter is a two-time WNBA All-Star selection. She helped lead the Mercury to the WNBA Championship last season, earning the 2007 Finals MVP crown. The Chicago, Ill. native became just the ninth player in league history to record 500 or more points in each of her first two seasons, joining teammate Taurasi. Pondexter averaged 17.2 points (8th - WNBA) and four assists (10th-WNBA) per game in her second all-star campaign and tallied 20 or more points in 11 games.
In 2006, Pondexter was tabbed a member of the WNBA All Rookie-Team and was runner-up in the Rookie of the Year voting. She finished fourth in the league in scoring (19.5 ppg) and was just the third newcomer in WNBA history to break the 600-point mark (Cynthia Cooper, Seimone Augustus). Pondexter finished in the top-20 in scoring, three-point field goal percentage, free throw percentage and minutes played.
She enjoyed similar success overseas in the off-season, leading Fenerbahce to the Turkish Cup for the second straight year. Pondexter was named Most Valuable Player of the 2007 Euroleague All-Star Game.
"This has been a dream of mine since I was a young kid," Pondexter told USA Basketball. "Winning a WNBA championship and being an Olympian, to see that my dreams have almost all come true ... I'm almost there. Standing up on that platform, I would be honored. I would be excited for USA Basketball as well as for myself."
Pondexter is the second Rutgers women's basketball player to compete in Olympic play. Tammy Sutton-Brown played for Canada in the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
|
2008 U.S. Women's Olympic Basketball Team Roster | ||||||||
|
NO |
NAME |
POS |
HGT |
WGT |
DOB |
WNBA TEAM |
COLLEGE |
HOMETOWN |
|
5 |
Seimone Augustus |
F |
6-1 |
179 |
04/30/84 |
Minnesota Lynx |
Louisiana State |
Baton Rouge, LA |
|
6 |
Sue Bird |
G |
5-9 |
150 |
10/16/80 |
Seattle Storm |
Connecticut |
Syosset, NY |
|
13 |
Sylvia Fowles |
C |
6-6 |
200 |
10/06/85 |
Chicago Sky |
Louisiana State |
Miami, FL |
|
9 |
Lisa Leslie |
C |
6-5 |
170 |
07/07/72 |
Los Angeles Sparks |
Southern Cal |
Hawthorne, CA |
|
15 |
Candace Parker |
F/C/G |
6-4 |
172 |
04/19/86 |
Los Angeles Sparks |
Tennessee |
Naperville, IL |
|
4 |
Cappie Pondexter |
G |
5-9 |
160 |
01/07/83 |
Phoenix Mercury |
Rutgers |
Chicago, IL |
|
14 |
Katie Smith |
G |
5-11 |
174 |
06/04/74 |
Detroit Shock |
Ohio State |
Logan, OH |
|
12 |
Diana Taurasi |
G/F |
6-0 |
172 |
06/11/82 |
Phoenix Mercury |
Connecticut |
Chino, CA |
|
11 |
Tina Thompson |
F |
6-2 |
178 |
02/10/75 |
Houston Comets |
Southern Cal |
Los Angeles, CA |
Three Players TBD
Head Coach: Anne Donovan
Assistant Coach: Gail Goestenkors, University of Texas
Assistant Coach: Dawn Staley, University of South Carolina
Assistant Coach: Mike Thibault, Connecticut Sun
