July 16, 2003

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (July 15, 2003) -- Featuring 12 of the nation's top college players, the 2003 USA Basketball Pan American Games Team will assemble July 17 in Boston to begin preparations for the 2003 Pan American Games that will be played Aug. 2-9 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The U.S. Pan American squad will begin training in Boston on Thursday, where it will join the USA, Australia and Brazil young women national teams for a pair of friendly games against Australia and Brazil, as well as a scrimmage against the U.S. young women's squad.

The USA Pan Am Games Team gets on the court for the first time Thursday at 6:00 p.m. (all times local) at Matthews Arena on the Northeastern University (Mass.) campus. The squad will practice once more on July 18 at 9:00 a.m. (site TBD) before scrimmaging the USA Young Women's Team at 4:00 p.m. at the Reebok Campus gym (Canton, Mass.). July 19 - 20 will see a pair of double-headers beginning at 1:00 p.m. each day at Matthews Arena. On July 19 the USA Young Women will play Brazil in the first game, followed by the USA Pan Am squad versus Australia at approximately 3:00 p.m.; while the July 20 double-header will feature the USA Pan Am Games Team competing against Brazil, followed by the USA Young Women against Australia.

Traveling to Sancti Spiritus, Cuba, on July 21, the U.S. will see its final test prior to the tip-off of the Pan Am Games with a trio of exhibition contests against Cuba's Pan Am team July 22-24. Following the Cuban trip, the squad will return to the United States, where it will train July 26-28 at the Berkeley Prep School (Tampa, Fla.) before beginning Pan Am Games play on Aug. 2 in Santo Domingo. The team will practice at 6:00 p.m. on July 26, followed by two-a-days at 10:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. on July 27-28. The 12-member 2003 USA team, led by collegiate head coaches, USA head coach Debbie Ryan (University of Virginia), and USA assistant coaches Kathi Bennett (Indiana University) and Trina Patterson (University at Albany, N.Y.), includes: Jenni Benningfield (Vanderbilt University / Louisville, Ky.); Rebekkah Brunson (Georgetown University / Oxon Hill, Md.); Jamie Carey (University of Texas / Thornton, Colo.); Roneeka Hodges (Transferring from Louisiana State to Florida State / New Orleans, La.); Laurie Koehn (Kansas State / Hesston, Kan.); Janel McCarville (University of Minnesota / Stevens Point, Wis.); Loree Moore (University of Tennessee / Harbor City, Calif..); Nicole Powell (Stanford University / Phoenix, Ariz..); Ann Strother (University of Connecticut / Castle Rock, Colo..); Lindsay Taylor (University of California at Santa Barbara / Chandler, Ariz..); Iciss Tillis (Duke University / Tulsa, Okla.); and Barbara Turner (University of Connecticut / Cleveland, Ohio).

The USA team features five women with prior USA Basketball experience, including Koehn who captured a gold medal in Brazil last summer and helped the United States qualify for the 2003 FIBA World Championship For Young Women. During the previous summer at the 2001 FIBA Junior World Championship, Moore, Powell and 2003 NCAA All-Final Four selection Strother were members of the U.S. squad that posted a 61 record, fell to host Czech Republic in the semifinal contest, but rebounded to return with the Junior Worlds bronze medal. Koehn and Powell also collected the gold medal and a 5-0 record at the 2000 Junior World Championship Qualifying Tournament in Mexico. Further, at the 1998 World Youth Games in Moscow, Carey and Tillis were members of the U.S. team that earned the bronze medal with a 51 record after being defeated by host Russia in the semifinal contest.

Also, two of the players - Strother and Turner - were members of Connecticut's 2003 NCAA women's basketball championship team; while Carey and Tillis helped their teams advance to the Final Four. Additionally, Powell and Tillis were named All-America first team by Kodak/WBCA, Powell was named All-America second team by the Associated Press and both were selected All-America third team by Basketball Times. Receiving All-America honorable mention by at least one of the above mentioned organizations were Benningfield, Brunson, Carey and Taylor.

Pan American Games

The Pan American Games, held every four years in the year prior to the Olympics and organized by the Pan American Sports Organization (PASO), is a multi-sport competition open to men and women representing countries from North, South and Central America and the Caribbean. This summer the Pan American Games will be held Aug. 1-17, with the women's basketball competition slated for Aug. 2-9, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The field of participants for the women's basketball competition, which will include teams from six nations, is not yet known. The Pan American Games, which were first held in 1951, held the first year of competition for women's basketball in 1955. In all, the USA women own six golds, three silvers and two bronze medals in 11 competitions and have compiled an overall 62-10 (.861 winning percentage). Many USA Basketball athletes who have been selected to a Pan American Games team have gone on to be named to an Olympic squad. In fact, of the 64 women who have been on the United States' six Olympic squads, 40 have been members of a USA Basketball Pan Am squad, including Jennifer Azzi, Carol Blazejowski, Cynthia Cooper, Anne Donovan, Theresa Edwards, Kamie Ethridge, Jennifer Gillom, Pat Head (Summitt), Nancy Lieberman, Ann Meyers (Drysdale), Kim Mulkey-Robertson, Dawn Staley, Sheryl Swoopes and Lynette Woodard. Additionally, 2000 Olympic gold medalists Natalie Williams competed for USA Volleyball at the 1991 Pan American Games.

Release provided by USA Basketball