USA Basketball Announces 2007 Women's U19 World Championship Team
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Following three days of training camp in Washington, D.C., USA Basketball today announced the official, 12-member 2007 USA U19 World Championship Team roster, which includes five members of the 2006 USA U18 National Team that qualified the U.S. for the 2007 FIBA U19 World Championship. From a pool of 14 finalists, the 2007 USA U19 squad was selected by the USA Basketball Women�s Collegiate Committee, chaired by Sue Donohoe, the NCAA�s vice president of Division I women�s basketball.
The official USA U19 roster includes: Victoria Baugh (Sacramento H.S. / Sacramento, Calif.); Angie Bjorklund (University H.S. / Spokane, Wash.); Allyssa DeHaan (Michigan State / Grandville, Mich.); Amy Jaeschke (New Trier H.S. / Wilmette, Ill.); Jantel Lavender (Cleveland Central Catholic H.S. / Cleveland, Ohio); Melissa Lechlitner (Notre Dame / Mishawaka, Ind.); Italee Lucas (Centennial H.S. / Las Vegas, Nev.); Maya Moore (Collins Hill H.S. / Lawrenceville, Ga.); Kayla Pedersen (Red Mountain H.S. / Fountain Hills, Ariz.); Jasmine Thomas (Oakton H.S. / Fairfax, Va.); Krystal Thomas (The First Academy / Orlando, Fla.); and Monica Wright (Virginia / Woodbridge, Va.). 'The committee has given us a quality group of component parts,' said USA U19 and DePaul University (Ill.) head coach Doug Bruno. 'We have great depth on the interior, and the inside is very strong. On the perimeter we also have strength with guards who can shoot the ball very well. It�s a versatile team, and everybody on the floor has the ability to score. 'The gold medal remains to be earned. This is a talented enough team to win gold, but we really have to come together in a very short time and demonstrate chemistry for that to happen. When you are coaching a team like this, you have a very short amount of time. We still have offenses sets to work on and defenses to put in, but our overall concern is how well we are able to work with cohesiveness and togetherness.' The 2007 USA Basketball Women�s U19 World Championship Team, composed of players 19-years-old or younger (born on or after Jan. 1, 1988), will continue training in Washington, D.C., before departing for Europe and the 2007 FIBA U19 World Championship on July 17. The FIBA U19 World Championship, which features 15 other U19 national teams from around the world, will be contested July 26-Aug. 5 in Bratislava, Slovakia. The USA U19 women will practice at 10:00 a.m. at American University�s Bender Arena on July 15, and at 10:00 a.m. on July 16 and 17 at the Washington Mystics Practice Facility in the Verizon Center. On July 17 the team will depart for the Canary Islands, Spain, where it will play three exhibition contests. On July 19 the USA U19 women will play Australia at 1:00 p.m. (all times listed are EDT); the team will face Brazil at 1:00 p.m. on July 20; and then Spain at 1:00 p.m. on July 21. The USA U19 roster boasts of eight USA Basketball veterans. Baugh, Lavender, Lucas, Moore and Pedersen were members of the 2006 USA U18 squad that captured gold and a perfect 4-0 record at the 2006 FIBA Americas U18 Championship; three attended the 2006 USA U18 National Team Trials, including Jaeschke, Jasmine Thomas and Wright; and Wright donned a USA jersey at the 2005 Youth Development Festival. Additionally, Jaeschke also was this year named as a finalist for the 2006 USA U21 World Championship Team.
The U.S. opens play in Bratislava on July 26 against Ivory Coast and then will face China on July 27 before concluding preliminary round play on July 28 against Lithuania. The second round will be contested July 30-Aug.1, the quarterfinals are slated for Aug. 3, semfinals will be held Aug. 4 and the gold medal will be contested July 5.
2007 FIBA U19 World Championship for Women
Sixteen countries will compete in the U19 World Championship for Women that will be held July 26-Aug. 5 in Bratislava, Slovakia. The draw for the 2007 FIBA U19 World Championship For Women was held by FIBA on March 6, and the USA was placed in Group B, along with China, Ivory Coast and Lithuania; Group A consists of Argentina, South Korea, Slovakia and Spain; Group C includes Canada, Czech Republic, Japan and Serbia; while Group D is comprised of Australia, Brazil, Mali and Sweden.
The USA qualified for the 2007 U19 World Championship after Bruno, as the USA�s head coach, led the U18 squad to a 4-0 slate and gold medal at the zone qualifier, the 2006 FIBA Americas U18 Championship for Women. The event was hosted by USA Basketball at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Originally known as the FIBA Junior World Championship, the tournament is held every four years and was first held in 1985. USA women's teams are 32-10 in the U19/Junior World Championships, capturing gold with an 8-0 record most recently in 2005.
USA Basketball Women�s Collegiate Committee
The USA Women�s U19 player and coach selections were made by the USA Basketball Women�s Collegiate Committee. Chaired by Sue Donohoe, the NCAA�s vice president of Division I women�s basketball, other members of the 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.
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