July 16, 2007

WASHINGTON, D.C. --- Following three days of training camp in Washington, D.C., USA Basketball Sunday announced the official, 12-member 2007 USA U19 World Championship Team roster, which includes North Carolina signee Italee Lucas. 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.), Angie Bjorklund (University H.S.), Allyssa DeHaan (Michigan State), Amy Jaeschke (New Trier H.S.), Jantel Lavender (Cleveland Central Catholic H.S.), Melissa Lechlitner (Notre Dame), Lucas (Centennial H.S.), Maya Moore (Collins Hill H.S.), Kayla Pedersen (Red Mountain H.S.), Jasmine Thomas (Oakton H.S.), Krystal Thomas (The First Academy) and Monica Wright (Virginia).

"The committee has given us a quality group of component parts," said USA U19 and DePaul 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.

Bruno, who also led the 2006 USA U18 women to gold at the 2006 FIBA Americas U18 Championship, will be assisted by Cynthia Cooper-Dyke of Prairie View A&M and Carol Owens of Northern Illinois.

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 Aug. 5.