• Roster
• |
• Schedule/Results
• |
• Stats
• |
• News
• |
• Archives

May 5, 2011

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Texas Women’s Basketball freshman guard Chassidy Fussell and incoming signee Cassie Peoples are among 35 of the nation's top 19-and-under athletes who have accepted invitations to attend the 2011 USA Women's U19 World Championship Team Trials, USA Basketball today announced. Trials will be held May 22-25 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. Invitations to the trials were issued by the USA Basketball Women's Junior National Team Committee, chaired by Sue Donohoe, NCAA vice president for Division I women's basketball.

"The committee is very excited about the young talent that will be at this year's USA Basketball U19 World Championship Team Trials," said Donohoe. "So many of these athletes already know what it takes to win a gold medal, and that will make the trials so much more competitive and that much harder for the committee to narrow down this group to just one team."

A unanimous selection on the 2011 Big 12 All-Freshman Team and an All-Big 12 Second Team honoree, Fussell led the Longhorns in conference play with 17.8 points per game, a mark that ranked seventh-best overall in the league and second-best among all league freshmen. She was the only freshman in the Big 12 to rank in the top-three in her class in scoring, steals, free throw percentage and rebounding in all 16 regular-season league contests. A three-time Big 12 Freshman of the Week, Fussell became the first rookie to lead Texas in scoring since the 2003-04 season.
 
A 5-6 point guard from Cy-Fair HS (Houston, Texas), Peoples was named the 2011 Texas Class 5A-District 17 MVP after leading the Lady Bobcats to a second-place finish in the district and a second round playoff game in February. She scored a total of 49 points in her pair of postseason appearances. Peoples and the Lady Bobcats won the Texas Class 5A state championship in 2010. In the 2011 HoopGurlz Recruiting Ranking, Peoples is the eighth-ranked positional player and listed No. 36 overall. Additionally, she was selected to compete in the 2011 McDonald’s All-American Game and was most recently named to the USA TODAY All-USA Girls Basketball Third Team.

Eight members of the 2010 USA U18 National Team that earned the USA its 2011 FIBA U19 World Championship berth are returning to compete for a spot on the 2011 USA U19 World Championship Team - as is the coaching staff.  The USA again will be led by the University of Hartford's Jennifer Rizzotti, with assistant coaches Sue Semrau of Florida State University and Joi Williams of the University of Central Florida.

Only U.S. citizens who are 19 years old or younger (born on or after Jan. 1, 1992) are eligible for the 2011 USA Basketball Women's U19 World Championship Team.

Also ccepting invitations to the 2011 USA U19 World Championship Team Trials are: Jordan Adams (Mater Dei H.S. / Irvine, Calif.); Cierra Burdick (Butler H.S. / Matthews, N.C.); Briyona Canty (Trenton Catholic Academy / Willingboro, N.J.); Andraya Carter (Buford H.S. / Flowery Branch, Ga.); Diamond DeShields (Norcross H.S. / Norcross, Ga.); Stefanie Dolson (Connecticut / Port Jervis, N.Y.); Aaryn Ellenberg (Oklahoma / Las Vegas, Nev.); Karla Gilbert (Texas A&M / College Station, Texas); Bashaara Graves (Clarksville H.S. / Clarksville, Tenn.); Bria Hartley (Connecticut / North Babylon, N.Y.); Justine Hartman (Brea Olinda H.S. / Brea, Calif.); Kaneisha Horn (Alabama / Birmingham, Ala.); Malina Howard (Twinsburg H.S. / Twinsburg, Ohio); Moriah Jefferson (Texas Home Educators Sports Association / Glenn Heights, Texas); Alexis Jones (Irving MacArthur H.S. / Irving, Texas); Betnijah Laney (Smyrna H.S. / Clayton, Del.); Allyson Malott (Madison H.S. / Middletown, Ohio); Tyaunna Marshall (Georgia Tech / Upper Marlboro, Md.); Ariel Massengale (Bolingbrook H.S. / Bolingbrook, Ill.); Khaalidah Miller (Georgia / Atlanta, Ga.); Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis (Mater Dei H.S. / Anaheim, Calif.); Theresa Plaisance (LSU / Marrero, La.); Shoni Schimmel (Louisville / Mission, Ore.); Meighan Simmons (Tennessee / Cibolo, Texas); Odyssey Sims (Baylor / Irving, Texas); Bria Smith (Christ the King H.S. / Massapequa, N.Y.); Imani Stafford (Winward H.S. / Los Angeles, Calif.); Breanna Stewart (Cicero-North Syracuse H.S. / North Syracuse, N.Y.); Kiah Stokes (Linn-Mar H.S. / Marion, Iowa); Alyssa Thomas (Maryland / Harrisburg, Pa.); Morgan Tuck (Bolingbrook H.S. / Bolingbrook, Ill.); Alexyz Vaioletama (Mater Dei H.S. / Fountain Valley, Calif.); and Elizabeth Williams (Princess Anne H.S. / Virginia Beach, Va.).

The USA U19 World Championship Team training camp will open June 1-5 at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., as part of the ESPN RISE Girls Showcase. The USA will train for four days before facing the Brazil U19 National Team on June 5. The game will be televised on ESPNU and also shown online at ESPN3.com.

Then on July 11-15, the USA U19 squad will reassemble for training at the U.S. Olympic Training Center, before the team travels to Chile for its final preparations.

As the winner of the past three U19 World Championships, the USA will look to defend its title at the 2011 U19 Worlds, hosted by Chile from July 21-31 in Puerto Montt and Puerto Varas. The USA has been drawn into Group B for preliminary round play and will tip-off against Japan on July 21 (12:30 p.m. EDT), face Russia on July 22 (12:30 p.m. EDT) and close the first round against Argentina on July 23 (10:15 a.m. EDT). 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.

Current collegiate athletes invited to participate in the 2011 USA U19 World Championship Team Trials are eligible and may also be considered for the 2011 USA World University Games Team. Trials for both teams will take place in staggered sessions May 22-25. The 2011 World University Games women's basketball competition is scheduled for Aug. 14-21 in Shenzhen, China.