– Finalists Include Seven Members Of The 2006 USA U20 National Team, 11 Gold Medalists –

May 20, 2007 • Colorado Springs, Colorado

Player Quotes (mp3): Allen || Anderson || Bonner || Carson || Harper || Houts || Jaeschke || Langhorne || Packer || Vaughn || Wiggins || Wisdom-Hylton

Essence Carson, fresh off a NCAA title game appearance, has been named a USA team finalist for the fourth year in a row. She has collected golds with a trio of USA Basketball teams and is hoping for a fourth.

USA Basketball announced today that 14 athletes had been selected as finalists for the 2007 USA U21 World Championship Team following the May 17-20 USA National Team Trials that featured 45 athletes vying for a coveted roster spot. The selections were made by the USA Basketball Women's Collegiate Committee, which is chaired by Sue Donohoe, the NCAA's vice president of Division I women's basketball.

"This is a tremendous group, I'm very excited," said USA and Duke University head coach Joanne P. McCallie. "It's a wonderful blend of last year's team and all that we endured and overcame in Mexico City, with incredible talent joining us to give us that extra energy and experience. It's a wonderful blend of student-athletes. We're very excited, the Committee did a great job and the team is very excited about the prospects and the challenge we have ahead.

"It's going to be extremely difficult to finalize this team and one that I will really yield to the Committee. At this point I'm looking at this as the team because we're leaving the country so quickly. I understand that two people won't be on it when we head overseas, but right now we're trying to work on becoming a cohesive group and then allow the Committee to make the difficult call that they'll have to make."

The 14 athletes still in contention for a spot on the final 12-member USA U21 National Team include: Charel Allen (Notre Dame / Monessen, Pa.); Jolene Anderson (Wisconsin / Port Wing, Wis.); DeWanna Bonner (Auburn / Fairfield, Ala.); Essence Carson (Rutgers / Paterson, N.J.); Laura Harper (Maryland / Elkins Park, Pa.); Ashley Houts (Georgia / Trenton, Ga.); Amy Jaeschke (New Trier H.S./Wilmette, Ill.); Crystal Langhorne (Maryland / Willingboro, N.J.); Marscilla Packer (Ohio State / Pickerington, Ohio); Courtney Paris (Oklahoma / Piedmont, Calif.); Kia Vaughn (Rutgers / Bronx, N.Y.); Abby Waner (Duke / Highlands Ranch, Colo.); Candice Wiggins (Stanford / San Diego, Calif.); and Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton (Purdue / Naperville, Ill.).

Included among the finalists are seven who helped the U.S. qualify for the FIBA U21 World Championship and a total of nine who have won gold medals at international competition. The seven athletes who return from the 2006 USA U20 National Team that captured the gold medal in Mexico City, Mexico, include Anderson, Bonner, Carson, Packer, Paris, Vaughn and Wisdom-Hylton. In 2005 Anderson, Carson, Crystal Langhorne, Courtney Paris, Waner and Wiggins captured the gold medal at the FIBA U19 World Championship. Prior to the U19 Worlds, that group also won the 2005 International Sports Invitational gold medal. In 2004 Carson, Harper, Paris, Waner and Wiggins started their age group off on the right foot by sweeping the competition at the 2004 FIBA Americas U18 Championship to collect the gold medal. Getting their start in a USA Basketball uniform at the 2004 USA Youth Development Festival were Paris, Vaughn and Waner; while Carson, Harper, Langhorne, Packer, Wiggins and Wisdom-Hylton all competed in the 2003 USA Youth Development Festival.

Additionally, Paris was named to the 2007-08 USA Basketball Women's Senior National Team and recently returned from Italy after helping the U.S. squad to a 4-0 slate against the Italy National Team, a pair of professional clubs and the Pomezia Region All-Stars.

Paris, the 2007 Associated Press Player of the Year, was also listed on the 2007 A.P. All-America first team. Wiggins was a 2007 A.P. All-America second team selection, while Carson, Waner and Wisdom-Hylton were 2007 A.P. All-America honorable mentions. Paris and Wiggins were both Wade Trophy finalists and listed among the 2007 Kodak/WBCA All-Americans, while Allen, Anderson, Carson, Vaughn and Wisdom-Hylton were named Kodak/WBCA All-America honorable mention.

Jaeschke, the lone high school athlete listed among the finalists, was a 2007 Parade Magazine All-America second team selection, was a McDonald's All-American and a WBCA All-America honorable mention.

The USA will look to defend its world title in this age group, open to athletes 21-years-old or younger (born on or after Jan. 1, 1986), at the 2007 FIBA U21 World Championship, held this year June 29-July 8 in Moscow, Russia.

McCallie will be assisted by collegiate head coaches Sam Dixon of Furman University (S.C.), an assistant to McCallie last summer, and Arizona State University's Charli Turner Thorne. The USA U21 finalists, named following the USA Trials, will reconvene in Colorado Springs June 12 to begin training for the tournament, and the eventual 12-member team will be named prior to the squad departing for Europe on June 16. The United States was placed in Group B in the 12-nation tournament along with Australia, Brazil, Hungary, Japan and Spain. Group A includes Belgium, Canada, China, Mali, France and Russia.

FIBA U21 World Championship
Held for the first time four years ago (2003), when it was known as the FIBA World Championship For Young Women, the USA captured the 2003 gold medal with a 7-1 record in Sibenik, Croatia. In the gold medal contest the U.S. avenged a 73-60 preliminary round loss to Brazil with a dominating 71-55 rout as tournament MVP Seimone Augustus paced the U.S. to the gold with 18 points. Augustus was joined on the five-member 2003 All-FIBA World Championship For Young Women Team by the USA's Alana Beard and Christi Thomas. FIBA changed the names of its age-based World Championships in 2005 to reflect the age athletes must be to be eligible for the event.

USA Basketball Women's Collegiate Committee
In addition to Donohoe, members of the USA Basketball Women's Collegiate Committee include: athlete representatives Beth Cunningham (Virginia Commonwealth University), a member of the 1999 USA Pan American Games Team, and 1996 Olympic gold medalist Carla McGhee (WNBA Director of Player Personnel); from the NAIA is Martha Gore-Algernon (University of Mobile); NCAA appointees include Sherri Coale (University of Oklahoma), Jim Foster (Ohio State University), Trina Patterson (University at Albany) and Tara VanDerveer (Stanford University); Mary "Roonie" Scovel (Gulf Coast Community College) represents the NJCAA; and Wendy Larry (Old Dominion University) was appointed to the Committee by the WBCA.