USA Basketball announces participants in 2016 USA Women’s U18 National Team Trials

USA Basketball  announced the participants in the 2016 Women’s U18 National Team Trials that will take place May 28-30 at the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

The USA will look to defend its 2014 U18 gold at the 2016 FIBA Americas U18 Championship July 13-17 in Valdivia, Chile. Athletes eligible for this team must be U.S. citizens who are 18 years old or younger (born on or after Jan. 1, 1998).

14 players have prior USA Basketball experience:

• Sidney Cooks (Saint Joseph H.S./Kenosha, Wis.)
• Lauren Cox (Flower Mound H.S./ Flower Mound, Texas)
• Crystal Dangerfield (Blackman H.S./Murfreesboro, Tenn.)
• Nicole Ekhomu (Joliet Catholic Academy/Bolingbrook, Ill.)
• Nadia Fingall (Choctawhatchee H.S./Navaree, Fla.)
• Ruthy Hebard (West Valley H.S./Fairbanks, Alaska)
• Tyasha Harris (Heritage Christian School/Noblesville, Ind.)
• Tori McCoy (High School of St. Thomas More/Champaign, Ill.)
• Amber Ramirez (Karen Wagner H.S./San Antonio, Texas)
• Kylee Shook (Mesa Ridge H.S./Colorado Springs, Colo.)
• Oliana Squires (Sand Creek H.S./Colorado Springs, Colo.)
• Dominique Toussaint (Christ the King H.S./Staten Island, N.Y.).
• Megan Walker (Monacan H.S./Chesterfield, Va.)
• Evina Westbrook (South Salem H.S./Salem, Ore.)

13 players will be taking part in their first USA Basketball national team event:

• Jeannie Boehm (New Trier H.S./Winnetka, Ill.)
• Chennedy Carter (Timberview H.S./Mansfield, Texas)
• Dana Evans (West Side H.S./Gary, Ind.)
• Vivian Gray (Argyle H.S./Argyle, Texas)
• Nia Hollie (Hopkins H.S./Brooklyn Park, Minn.)
• Kiara Lewis (Whitney Young H.S./Chicago, Ill.)
• Chasity Patterson (North Shore H.S./Houston, Texas)
• Reili Richardson (Brea Olinda H.S./Brea, Calif.)
• Jenna Staiti (West Forsyth H.S./Cumming, Ga.)
• Jasmine Walker (Jefferson Davis H.S./Montgomery, Ala.)
• LaDazhia Williams (Lakewood Ranch H.S./Bradenton, Fla.)
• Aaliyah Wilson (Muskogee H.S./Muskogee, Okla.)
• Micaela Wilson (Rayville H.S./Rayville, La.)

Cox and Dangerfield are FIBA U19 World Championship gold medalists. Cox also won gold as a member of the 2014 USA Women’s U17 World Championship Team, and she and Dangerfield won gold as members of the 2013 USA Women’s U16 National Team.

Cooks, Ramirez and Megan Walker recently teamed up to win the 2016 USA Basketball 3×3 U18 National Tournament on May 1, which qualified them to represent USA Basketball at the 2016 FIBA 3×3 U18 World Championship, which will be played June 1-5 in Astana, Kazakhstan. Squires played on the runner-up team at the 2016 USA Basketball 3×3 U18 National Tournament.

The 2016 USA Basketball Women’s U18 National Team will be led by a trio of former USA Basketball players and current collegiate head coaches in Suzie McConnell-Serio(Pittsburgh) as the USA head coach and Kamie Ethridge (Northern Colorado) and Charlotte Smith (Elon) as assistant coaches.

“There is a strong group of returning athletes that will benefit from the additional opportunities. We also have a strong group of first-time participants,” said Jim Foster (Tennessee-Chattanooga), chair of the USA Basketball Women’s Junior National Team Committee, which is responsible for issuing the invitations to participate in trials. “This should allow us to choose a team very capable of qualifying the United States for next year’s FIBA U19 World Championship.”