COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — LSU women’s basketball sophomores-to-be Allison Hightower and Porsha Phillips are among 37 of the nation’s top 19-and-unders to compete for a spot on the 2007 USA Basketball U19 World Championship Team at the 2007 USA Basketball Junior National Teams Trials, which will be held May 17-20.
The invitations were issued by the USA Basketball Women’s Collegiate Committee, which is chaired by Sue Donohoe, the NCAA’s vice president of Division I women’s basketball.
Hightower, a 5-10 guard from Arlington, Texas, averaged 6.2 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game this past season and was named to the Southeastern Conference All-Freshman team. Phillips, a 6-2 forward from St. Mountain, Ga., averaged 3.8 points, 2.9 rebounds and just under one block per game this past year.
Both players played in all 38 games for the Lady Tigers and Phillips started six games, while Hightower started twice.
USA Basketball will conduct the 2007 Women’s Junior National and National Team Trials in order to select finalists for three USA Basketball squads?the U19 World Championship Team, U21 World Championship Team and Pan American Games Team. Trials for all three teams will take place at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.
While hopefuls for the U21 World Championship and Pan American Games National Teams will conduct trials together, trials for the U19 World Championship Team are expected to take place independently. Finalists for the three squads will be named following trials, with official 12-member rosters determined prior to their respective competitions.
“Our expectations in the USA are to win gold, and to embrace the process of hard work, ultra competitiveness and total team play necessary to achieve that goal,” said USA U19 World Championship Team and DePaul University head coach Doug Bruno. “From this pool of 37 players invited to trials, we definitely have the talent to achieve that goal.
“I’m very excited to see how the players that won gold last year have improved. Now that they have experienced a year of USA Basketball competition, I’m looking forward to observing their dedication to the USA program. And I’m unbelievably excited to see so many new additions, many of whom have had a year of college seasoning.”
Bruno will be assisted by collegiate head coaches Cynthia Cooper of Prairie View A&M University (Texas) and Carol Owens of Northern Illinois University.
Serving as trials court coaches are Jacques Curtis of Shaw University (N.C.), Donnita Drain of Langston University (Okla.) and Narleski Wyrick of Southwestern Christian College (Texas).
In addition to Appel and Moore, also returning from the 2006 squad that captured a perfect 4-0 record and the gold medal at the 2006 FIBA Americas U18 Championship are: Vicky Baugh (Sacramento H.S./Sacramento, Calif.); Kelley Cain (St. Pius X Catholic H.S./Atlanta, Ga.); Nikitta Gartrell (North Carolina State/Atlanta, Ga.); Jantel Lavender (Cleveland Central Catholic H.S./Cleveland, Ohio); Italee Lucas (Centennial H.S./Las Vegas, Nev.); Kayla Pedersen (Red Mountain H.S./Fountain Hills, Ariz.); Brittainey Raven (Texas/Fort Worth, Texas); and Khadijah Rushdan (St. Elizabeth H.S./Wilmington, Del.).
In all, 20 athletes recently completed their final year of high school eligibility, 16 will be college sophomores in 2007-08 and one will be a college junior in the fall. The 17 collegiate athletes hail from 15 schools and eight different conferences.
The USA qualified for the U19 World Championships 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, an event hosted by USA Basketball at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Sixteen countries will compete in the U19 World Championship for Women that will be held July 26-Aug. 5 in Bratislava, Slovakia. FIBA announced on March 6 the draw for the 2007 FIBA U19 World Championship For Women, and the USA has been placed in Group B, along with China, Ivory Coast and Lithuania.
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.