2008 USA Basketball Women�s U18 National Team Opens Training Thursday in Colorado Springs

July 10, 2008

The 2008 USA Basketball Women's U18 National Team opens two weeks of training camp on Thursday July 10 with a 5 p.m. practice (MDT) at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. The USA U18 Women will practice at the training center July 10-15, and then at the Verizon Center practice facility in Washington, D.C., July 17-20.

The 2008 FIBA Americas U18 Championship will be contested July 23-27 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with the USA seeking a fourth consecutive gold medal in the event.

'I think the committee did a great job selecting the right kids, the right fit and a balanced group that I think will work well together. I can't wait to get them in practice,' said Carol Owens, USA and Northern Illinois University head coach. 'I think one of our strenths had to be our defense. When you are playing teams from other countries, everyone can score. We have to be able to defend and create scoring opportunities for ourselves. We have to rebound too. I think this team has the capability of scoring, but we have to be able to do other things. We have to be a hard-working team.'

Following the opening session Thursday evening, the team will practice at the USOTC at 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. (MDT) on July 11, 12, 14 and 15, and just once on July 13 at 10 a.m. Traveling to Washington, D.C., on July 16, the USA will resume training at the Verizon Center practice facility, with 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. (EDT) sessions on July 17 and 19, and 10 a.m. sessions on July 18 and 20. All practice sessions are closed to the public.

Headed by Owens, who owns two gold medals as a USA assistant coach, the 2008 USA Women's U18 National Team roster includes: Kelsey Bone (Dulles H.S. / Stafford, Texas); Sarah Boothe (Warren Township H.S. / Gurnee, Ill.); Alyssia Brewer (Sapulpa H.S. / Sapulpa, Okla.); Ashley Corral (Prairie H.S. / Vancouver, Wash.); Skylar Diggins (Washington H.S. / South Bend, Ind.); Kelly Faris (Heritage Christian / Plainfield, Ind.); Lynetta Kizer (Potomac H.S. / Woodbridge, Va.); Nneka Ogwumike (Cy-Fair H.S. / Cypress, Texas); Samantha Prahalis (Commack H.S. / Dix Hills, N.Y.); Nikki Speed (Marlborough H.S. / Pasadena, Calif.); SheKinna Stricklen (Morrilton H.S. / Morrilton, Ark.); and Joslyn Tinkle (Big Sky H.S. / Missoula, Mont.). Bill Fennelly of Iowa State University and Terri Mitchell of Marquette University will serve as assistant coaches.

Eleven of the 12 team members return to the red, white and blue from the 2007 USA Basketball Women's Youth Development Festival, including Speed, who established an all-time Festival record for assists (27). Helping the USA White Team to a 5-0 record and gold medal were Bone, Corral, Diggins, Kizer and Prahalis; playing for USA Blue were Brewer and Faris; and playing for USA Red were Boothe, Ogwumike, Speed and Stricklen.

Eight of the team members will be college freshman in the fall, and four will complete their final year of high school eligibility. Brewer and Stricklen are headed to the University of Tennessee; Booth and Ogwumike will play for Stanford University; Corral is headed to the University of Southern California; Kizer will attend the University of Maryland; Prahalis is headed to Ohio State University; and Speed will play at Rutgers University.

Of the four members of the class of 2009, Faris, who has said she will play at the University of Connecticut, is the only player to issue a verbal commitment. Bone, Diggins and Tinkle remain undecided about their college futures.

The 12 team members, born on or after Jan. 1, 1990, were selected by the USA Basketball Women's Collegiate Committee following three days of trials, June 9-11, at the USOTC in Colorado Springs. In addition to chair Sue Donohoe, the NCAA's vice president of Division I women's basketball, the USA Basketball Women's Collegiate Committee includes: athlete representatives Beth Cunningham (Virginia Commonwealth University), a member of the 1999 USA Pan American Games Team, and 1996 Olympic gold medalist Carla McGhee; 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.

2008 FIBA Americas U18 Championship for Women

The FIBA Americas U18 Championship for Women will feature eight national teams from North, South and Central America and the Caribbean from July 23-27 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The top four finishing teams qualify for the 2009 FIBA U19 Women's World Championship, which will be held July 23-Aug. 2 in Bangkok, Thailand.

In the preliminary round, the eight participating teams will be divided into two groups of four teams each. After playing the three other teams in the preliminary round, the top two finishing teams from each group will advance to the medal round semifinals, while the third and fourth place finishing teams will meet in the consolation round semifinals. The gold medal, bronze medal, 5th/6th place and 7th/8th place games will be played on July 27.

Originally known as the FIBA Americas Junior World Championship Qualifying Tournament, the event had been held every four years since 1988. FIBA changed its calendar, however, and the tournament is now conducted every other year, followed in the next summer by the FIBA U19 World Championship.

USA women's teams boast of a remarkable 28-2 overall record in U18/Junior Qualifiers and have won gold in 1988, 2000, 2004 and 2006, while capturing silver in 1992 and 1996.