May 11, 2004

FORT WORTH, Texas

TCU Women's Basketball Head Coach Jeff Mittie announced Tuesday that Vanessa Clementino from Trinity Valley Community College has signed a National Letter of Intent with the Purple and White for the 2004-05 season. Clementino is the sixth newcomer for TCU, joining fall signees Ashley Goodwin, Amanda Holmes, Moneka Knight, Lorie Rayford-Butler and Marissa Rivera.

"Vanessa is a very athletic power forward," said Mittie. "She can face the basket and also play with her back to it. Vanessa will compliment our frontline and adds critical depth to our roster in that area. She played for a fantastic program and will come in ready to play from the start."

Clementino, a 6-foot-2 forward from Aracatuba, Brazil, helped coach Michael Landers and the Lady Cardinals post a perfect 36-0 record last season en route to the 2004 National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) National Championship. The Athens, Texas-based school was also champions of its conference and region.

During her sophomore season, Clementino averaged 15.4 points per game and added 7.2 rebounds each contest. She shot 57.5 percent from the field and knocked down 81.1 percent of her tries from the free-throw line. Clementino took home first-team conference and region honors and landed on the NJCAA All-America Second Team. She was named to the all-tournament squad at the 2004 NJCAA National Tournament as well.

Clementino helped the Lady Cards notch a 30-1 slate and a conference championship in 2002-03. Trinity Valley spent the entire year as one of the top five teams in the country and finished the year rated No. 2. Clementino contributed over eight points and four boards per game during her rookie campaign. She made 51.9 percent of her field goal attempts and was a 71.7 percent free throw shooter.

Trinity Valley is regarded as one of the top junior colleges in the country, as evidenced by its five national titles in women's basketball (1994, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2004). The Lady Cards were also national runner-ups in 1995 and 1998. The team has gone 401-35 (.920) beginning with the 1991-92 season and owns nine 30-win efforts during that span. TVCC has also seen over 40 of its players go on to play at the NCAA Division I level at institutions such as Louisiana Tech, Texas, Kansas State and Alabama. Four went on to play in the WNBA, including Shalonda Enis (Charlotte Sting), Tausha Mills (San Antonio Silver Stars), Betty Lennox (Cleveland Rockers) and Shantia Owens (New York Liberty).

This is not the first time Trinity Valley and TCU have crossed paths, as former Lady Frog Diamond Jackson played for the Lady Cards for two seasons before starring at TCU from 1998-2000. Jackson averaged double figures in both years and ranks among the top-10 on the Lady Frogs' career records for threes made and attempted, three-point field goal percentage and scoring average.