Credit Rutgers' Cappie Pondexter for scoring 22 points in the Scarlet Knights' 76-69 loss to Nicky Anosike's Tennessee Volunteers. But credit Anosike's quick feet and long arms with forcing Pondexter to take 20 shots, and miss 13, with five turnovers thrown in.
Anosike finished with just seven points, with three assists, two steals and two turnovers. But as coach Pat Summit would say of the New York native, "She's cut out of a very special cloth."
For Anosike, a 6-4 sophomore, the dirty work is her personal challenge. Few can match the offensive arsenal Pondexter brings to a game. But to Anosike, she was the garage that needed to be cleared, the basement that needed to be swept.
"I want to anchor our team on defense," she said. "It's my most favorite thing to do."
On most possessions, Anosike would lock in on the 5-8 Pondexter in the backcourt, then shadow her..
"I love it," Anosike said. "It's harder when you guard a guard. But I just had to make it easy on myself by not letting her catch the ball."
One Anosike post-up stopped a late Rutgers charge. Later, her assist to Parker from the high post had Summit jumping off the bench, clapping and screaming.
"I tell her all the time that what [she's] made out of is something unique to our basketball team," Summitt said. "She likes to be responsible for the dirty work."
No comments:
Post a Comment