Rutgers women's basketball senior guard Cappie Pondexter was named the National Player of the Year yesterday by the Women's Basketball News Service, also filling a spot on the WBNS' All-America first team.
Pondexter became only the second women's basketball player at Rutgers to earn the honor, joining Scarlet Knights current assistant coach Sue Wicks - who won the Player of the Year award in 1988.
Pondexter and Wicks are also the only two women's players in RU history to write their names into the 2,000-point club for their careers.
Joining the fifth-year guard on All-America First Team were Seimone Augustus (LSU), Monique Currie (Duke), Jessica Davenport (Ohio State), Tasha Humphrey (Georgia), Ivory Latta (North Carolina), Courtney Paris (Oklahoma), Candance Parker (Tennessee), Candice Wiggins (Stanford), and Sophia Young (Baylor).
But Pondexter's day didn't end there, as she was also named to The Associated Press Women's Basketball All-America First Team after having been an honorable mention AP All-American in both 2003 and 2005, and a third-team selection in 2004.
The guard will compete tomorrow night at the College Basketball Slam Dunk and Three-point Shooting Championships presented by Dell. It will start at 7 p.m. on ESPN.
After shooting 48-percent from three-point range this season, Pondexter will compete in the three-point contest against UCLA's Nikki Blue, Michigan State's Lindsay Bowen, Notre Dame's Megan Duffy, Texas Tech's Erin Grant, Miami's Tamara James and Utah's Julie Larsen.
Pondexter will also be one of four collegiate All-America players to join the USA Basketball Women's Senior National Team in Boston next week for workouts, before the squad travels to the Opals World Challenge April 7-12 in Cairns and Canberra, Australia.
Pondexter finished her final season on the Banks with a scoring average of 21.6 points-per-game, tying for sixth in the nation, contributing 4.2 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game for a No. 9 Scarlet Knights team that finished 27-5 overall (16-0 in conference) and advanced to the regional semifinals of the NCAA Tournament.
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