March 5, 2010

HARTFORD, Conn. - Freshman shooting guard Ta'Shauna "Sugar" Rodgers (Suffolk, Va./King's Fork) has been named the 2010 BIG EAST Women's Basketball Freshman of the Year. The conference announced the honor during a press conference midway through the opening day of the BIG EAST Tournament on Friday at the XL Center in Hartford, Conn.

"This is a great honor," said Rodgers during the press conference. "I'd like to thank my teammates, coaches and family. I hope this is just the beginning for the Georgetown program."

The Suffolk, Va., native is just the third player in program history to win the award. Rebekkah Brunson was the most recent winner during the 2000-01 season and Kimberly Smith also made the list in 1996.

Yesterday, Rodgers was named First Team All-BIG EAST making her the only freshman on the 11-player first team, as well as the first rookie in program history to earn the distinction. She was also a unanimous selection to the All-BIG EAST Freshman Team.

Rodgers has made an immediate impact in the conference ranking as one of the top scorers in the league almost the entire season. She is averaging 18.1 ppg and has scored in double figures in 29 of 30 games played. The freshman has been named the BIG EAST Rookie of the Week on five separate occasions as well as earned a spot on the league's weekly honor roll three different times. She has made the most three's this season in program history with 79 and ranked as one of the top single-season scorers in Georgetown history with 543 points as a rookie.

The shooting guard is also reliable at the free throw line, shooting 77.6 percent from the charity stripe and ranks third on the team in steals with 54.

"I am so proud of Sugar," said Head Coach Terri Williams-Flournoy. "It's tough to come in as a freshman and to make the adjustment from high school to college, but to become the BIG EAST Freshman of the Year says what kind of player she is!"

Georgetown finished the season tied for second in the conference and has earned the No. 3 seed in the BIG EAST Tournament. The Blue & Gray has earned a double bye and will open the tournament on Sunday in the quarterfinals at 8 p.m. on ESPNU at the XL Center in Hartford, Conn.