Courtesy of USA Basketball.com
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — LSU senior guard Marie Ferdinand along with her 12-member USA Team completed practice at 2 p.m. Tuesday and will travel halfway around the world to Taipei, Taiwan, on Wednesday for the 2000 Women’s R. William Jones Cup which begins Sunday.
The USA’s Jones Cup Team takes on the Republic of China in the first game of the tournament on Sunday, July 16, at 4:30 a.m. (CDT) — 3:30 p.m. in Taiwan — the first of five games in five days.
After the Republic of China, the USA Team takes on Korea on Monday at 7 a.m., Kazakhstan on Tuesday at 5:20 a.m., Japan on Wednesday at 7 a.m., and Malaysia on Thursday at 5:20 a.m. All games will be played at the Gymnasium of Taipei Physical Education College.
“We’re trying to get used to each other, build a little chemistry and learn from one another, but as we go on it’s getting better and better,” Ferdinand told USA Basketball.com last week.
Once returning from Taiwan on July 21, the team will rejoin on Aug. 29 and prepare for an exhibition game against the USA Basketball Women’s Senior National Team on Sept. 3 at the University of Hawaii in Honolulu. The exhibition is part of the National Team’s 2000 Olympic preparation schedule.
USA head coach Bonnie Henrickson predicts the Japanese team will present the stiffest competition but still sees an U.S. victory.
“I think we’re preparing here to win the gold and anything less than that would be underachieving and not meeting our expectations,” she said. “I think we have the talent to do that. A lot of things have to fall into place before we take off and go there. We’ve still got a lot to get in but I feel positive about it.
“The more we play together the better our chances are but we realize they are the best team in the world,” she said. “Our goals are pretty simple — for us to get better, to understand each other a little bit more everyday and be as best as we can be when we get to Taiwan. But the fact that we played five games and had all this practice certainly will be better than just showing up in Hawaii and trying to play (the National Team). We’ll be as ready as we can be.”
On July 10, St. Joseph University’s (Pa.) guard Angela Zampella replaced the University of Florida’s Brandi McCain, who chose not travel with the team due to a previous injury that was aggravated during training camp. Zampella was selected as an alternate to the squad following the May 17-22 trials by the USA Basketball Women’s Select Team Committee.
Named to the 2000 team were:
Chantelle Anderson (6-6, Vanderbilt / Vancouver, Wash.)
Sue Bird (5-9, Connecticut / Syosset, N.Y.)
Camille Cooper (6-4, Purdue / Georgetown, Ky.)
Marie Ferdinand (5-8, LSU / Miami, Fla.)
Deanna Jackson (6-2, Alabama-Birmingham / Birmingham, Ala.)
^ Brandi McCain (5-3, Florida/Silsbee, Texas)
Loree Payne (6-0, Washington / Havre, Mont.)
Shea Ralph (5-11, Connecticut / Fayetteville, N.C.)
Kelly Schumacher (6-5, Connecticut / Quyon, Canada)
Michelle Snow (6-5, Tennessee / Pensacola, Fla.)
Jackie Stiles (5-8, Southwest Missouri State / Claflin, Kan.)
Brooke Wyckoff (6-1, Florida State / West Chester, Ohio)
* Angela Zampella (5-7, St. Joseph University’s, Pa./Hoboken, N.J.)
* Alternate named to team on July 10.
^ Will not participate due to injury
Alternates:
Erin Buescher (6-3, UC Santa Barbara/Rohnert Park, Calif.)
Rasheeda Clark (5-10, Pepperdine/Ontario, Calif.)
Jenny Mowe (6-5, Oregon/Powers, Ore.)
Ayana Walker (6-2, Louisiana Tech/Houston, Texas)
The team will be headed by Bonnie Henrickson. St. Joseph’s University (Pa.) head coach Stephanie Gaitley and Grambling State University (La.) head mentor David “Rusty” Ponton will serve as assistant coaches for the Jones Cup team.