2011 USA Basketball Women's U19 World Championship Team Finalized

June 5, 2011 • Orlando, Fla.

Following five days of training camp at Walt Disney World Resorts in Florida, which culminated with a 49-37 exhibition victory over the Brazil U19 National Team, the 2011 USA Basketball Women’s U19 World Championship Team was finalized on Sunday afternoon. All 12 members of the USA U19 squad have prior international experience playing for USA Basketball, including four who were on the 2010 USA U18 National Team that qualified the U.S. for the U19 Worlds.

Three-time defending champions at the FIBA U19 World Championship, the U.S. will look to defend its gold medal at this year’s U19 World Championship, scheduled for July 21-31 in Puerto Montt and Puerto Varas, Chile.

“This was very difficult and that’s a credit to the girls, how hard they worked and how committed they were in their desire to want to be on the team,” said Jennifer Rizzotti, USA U19 World Championship Team and University of Hartford head coach. “It makes this process really hard. I’m excited about finally being down to 12 and thinking over the next few weeks about what I can do with this group of kids to make sure we are as prepared as we can be heading down to Chile and try to win a gold medal.”

Named to the 2011 USA U19 World Championship Team were: Jordan Adams (Mater Dei H.S. / Irvine, Calif.); Cierra Burdick (Butler H.S. / Matthews, N.C.); Diamond DeShields (Norcross H.S. / Norcross, Ga.); Stefanie Dolson (Connecticut / Port Jervis, N.Y.); Bria Hartley (Connecticut / North Babylon, N.Y.); Alexis Jones (Irving MacArthur H.S. / Irving, Texas); Ariel Massengale (Bolingbrook H.S. / Bolingbrook, Ill.); Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis (Mater Dei H.S. / Anaheim, Calif.); Imani Stafford (Winward H.S. / Los Angeles, Calif.); Breanna Stewart (Cicero-North Syracuse H.S. / North Syracuse, N.Y.); Morgan Tuck (Bolingbrook H.S. / Bolingbrook, Ill.); and Elizabeth Williams (Princess Anne H.S. / Virginia Beach, Va.).

The USA U19 World Championship Team will reassemble for training camp July 11-15 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center (USOTC) in Colorado Springs, Colo., before the team travels to Chile for its final preparations.

The USA has been drawn into Group B for preliminary round play. Tipping-off against Japan on July 21 at
12:30 p.m. (all times EDT), the USA will face Russia on July 22 at 12:30 p.m. and close the first round against Argentina on July 23 at 3:30 p.m. The second round will be played July 25-27, quarterfinals are slated for July 29, semifinals will be held on July 30 and the finals are scheduled for July 31.

Only U.S. citizens who are 19 years old or younger (born on or after Jan. 1, 1992) are eligible for this team.

In 2009 Adams, Burdick, Massengale, Mosqueda-Lewis, Stewart and Williams were members of the USA U16 National Team that captured gold at the FIBA Americas U16 Championship in Mexico City, Mexico. Adams, Burdick, Massengale, Mosqueda-Lewis, Stafford, Tuck and Williams then took gold the following year at the inaugural 2010 FIBA U17 World Championship in France.

Last summer DeShields, Dolson, Hartley and Jones aided the U.S. to gold at the 2010 FIBA Americas U18 Championship, held at the USOTC, which qualified USA Basketball for the 2011 FIBA U19 World Championship.  

Assistant coaches for the USA U19 World Championship Team are Sue Semrau of Florida State University and Joi Williams of the University of Central Florida.

Originally known as the FIBA Junior World Championship, the tournament was held every four years from 1985 through 2005. FIBA now conducts the U19 World Championship every other year. USA women's teams are 49-11 all-time in U19/Junior World championships, most recently capturing a third consecutive gold with an 8-1 record in 2009.

Some of the top players who have represented the United States in past FIBA U19 World Championships include: Angela Aycock (1993); Alana Beard (2001); Essence Carson (2005); Tamika Catchings (1997); Monique Currie (2001); Crystal Langhorne (2005); Erlana Larkins (2005); Jantel Lavender (2007); Lisa Leslie (1989); Rebecca Lobo (1993); Maya Moore (2007); Nnemkadi Ogwumike (2009); Vickie Orr (1985); Courtney Paris (2005); Cappie Pondexter (2001); Katie Smith (1993); Dawn Staley (1989); Ann Strother (2001); Diana Taurasi (2001); Abby Waner (2005); and Candice Wiggins (2005).