PISCATAWAY, NJ - Rutgers women’s basketball student-athletes Mauri Horton (Minneapolis, MN) and Cappie Pondexter (Chicago, IL) have been named to the Metropolitan Writers Association All-Division I Women’s Basketball Team, the group has announced.

Pondexter was named the Met Player of the Year and earned a spot on the All-Met First Team, while Horton was a second-team selection.

Pondexter, a 5-9 sophomore guard, was named an honorable-mention Associated Press All-American and the BIG EAST Rookie of the Year after averaging 18.3 points, 5.1 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game. The first rookie in conference history to be named to the All-BIG EAST First Team, she also was one of 12 finalists for the Nancy Lieberman Award, which honors the nation’s best Division I women’s point guard.

Horton, a 5-8 senior guard, was named the All-BIG EAST Third Team after averaging 11.5 points and 4.4 rebounds per game. She ended her career “On the Banks” fourth in both three-point field goals made (112) and attempted (339) and fifth in three-point field-goal percentage (.330) on the RU charts.

Pondexter is the third Scarlet Knight to be named the Met Player of the Year, following in the footsteps of Shawnetta Stewart (1999, 2000) and Tasha Pointer (2001), and she is the fourth player to be named to the All-Met First Team, joining Pointer (1998-2001), Stewart (1999-2000) and Tammy Sutton-Brown (2001). Horton is the second RU player to be named to the All-Met Second Team, as Davalyn Cunningham also earned that distinction in 2002.

Rutgers finished the 2002-2003 season with a 21-8 overall record and a 13-3 mark in the BIG EAST Conference to finish second in the regular-season standings. The Scarlet Knights appeared in the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time in the last six years, advancing to the second round.

2003 Metropolitan Writers Association Women’s Division I Awards

Player of the Year: Cappie Pondexter, Rutgers
Coach of the Year: Sal Buscaglia, Manhattan
First Team: Mobolaji Akiode, Fordham; Jen Brickey, Hofstra; Tamika Dudley, Long Island; Rosalee Mason, Manhattan; Cappie Pondexter, Rutgers Second Team: Sue Altman, Columbia; Mauri Horton, Rutgers; Sherry Jordan, Stony Brook; Siobhan Kilkenny, Manhattan; Katie McFarlane, Army