Rutgers Point Guard Injures Eye

CHICAGO (AP) â€” Rutgers point guard Tasha Pointer was shot in the eye with a pellet from a BB gun, leaving a pellet lodged in her left eyelid. <br><br>The three-year starter apparently was shot by a 16-year-old

Monday, July 17th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

CHICAGO (AP) â€” Rutgers point guard Tasha Pointer was shot in the eye with a pellet from a BB gun, leaving a pellet lodged in her left eyelid.

The three-year starter apparently was shot by a 16-year-old boy Tuesday night while she was walking home on the city's West Side. Her vision in the nearly completely swollen eye remained blurred, according to her mother, Bernadine Pointer.

Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer said doctors told the player there was no damage to her retina, adding that the long-term prognosis was good. Bernadine Pointer said doctors will remove the pellet once the swelling in her daughter's eye decreases.

Tasha Pointer, a second-team All Big-East selection last season, is expected to travel to New Jersey on Tuesday, her mother said.

``She told me, 'I'm not coming back here. I want no part of Chicago,''' Bernadine Pointer said. ``She's just a kid. She's saying, 'Why did he do this to me?' Everyone around here who knows her can't believe it.''

The young man was detained by police. A spokesman for the Chicago Police Department said Saturday he did not know if he had been charged.

A key part of Rutgers' Final Four team this year, Pointer led the team in assists with 5.3 per game and was the second-leading scorer, averaging 9.5 points.