May 17, 2001
TEMPE, Ariz. - Arizona State guard/forward Betsy Boardman has been invited to the USA Basketball Women's Junior National Team Trials to be held June 15-18, 2001 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Boardman, a sophomore-to-be out of Portland, Ore., is one of 30 of the nation's top players aged 19 and younger who have accepted invitations to the four-day trials. The USA Basketball Women's Collegiate Committee, chaired by University of Texas Senior Associate Athletics Director for Men's and Women's Athletics Chris Plonsky, will select the finalists for the 12-member 2001 USA Women's Junior Works Championship team following the trials.
A 2001 Pac-10 All-Freshman Team selection, Boardman finished third on the team in scoring at 11.6 points last season and paced the team in steals with 68. She ranked sixth in the Pac-10 in steals with 2.19 per game and ninth in three-point shooting at 36.0 percent.
"This is a well-deserved honor for Betsy Boardman. She had a tremendous freshman year," Arizona State head coach Charli Turner Thorne said. "It's a great honor and we hope that in the future the members of the USA Basketball Committee will continue to look at our program for its junior national and national teams. I know Betsy will represent our program extremely well."
Included among the invitees are: Mistie Bass (Janesville Parker H.S. /Janesville, Wis.), Ashley Battle (Connecticut / Pittsburgh, Pa.), Alana Beard (Duke/Shreveport, La.), Tera Bjorklund (Colorado / St. Peter, Minn.), Betsy Boardman (Arizona State/ Portland, Ore.), Teresa Borton (West Valley H.S. / Yakima, Wash.), Shameka Christon (Arkansas / Hot Springs, Ark.), Shyra Ely (Ben Davis H.S./Indianapolis, Ind.), Vanessa Hayden (Florida / Orlando, Fla.), Eafton Hill (Wake Forest / Boone, N.C.), Amber Jacobs (Boston College / Clarks Summit, Pa.), Veronica Johns-Richardson (Troy H.S. / Fullerton, Calif.), Kelly Mazzante (Penn State / Montoursville, Pa.), Giuliana Mendiola (Washington /Lake Forest, Calif.), Corrie Mizusawa (St. Mary's College / Lafayette, Calif.), Jessica Moore (Connecticut / Palmer, Ark.), Loree Moore (Narbonne H.S. / Harbor City, Calif.), Amber Obaze (Louisiana Tech / Dallas, Texas), Ugo Oha (George Washington / Houston, Texas), Shawntinice Polk (Hanford H.S. / Hanford, Calif.), Cappie Pondexter (John Marshall H.S. / Chicago, Ill.), Nicole Powell (Stanford / Phoenix, Ariz.), Stacy Stephens (Texas /Winnsboro, Texas), Mandisha Stevenson (Gulf Coast C.C. / Decatur, Ala.), Ann Strother (Highlands Ranch H.S. / Highlands Ranch, Colo.), Diana Taurasi (Connecticut/Chino, Calif.), T'Nae Thiel (Weatherford H.S. / Weatherford, Texas), Wynter Whitley (Holy Innocents' Episcopal / Atlanta, Ga.), Nicole Wolff (Walpole H.S. / Walpole, Mass.) and Shanna Zolman (Wawasee H.S. / Syracuse, Ind.).
In all, listed among the invitees are 17 who recently completed their first year of NCAA eligibility, one who was an NJCAA freshman this past year, eight high school seniors, and four high school juniors. There are 15 different NCAA schools and nine conferences represented, with Connecticut and the Big East boasting the most athletes with three and four, respectively. On the high school level, there is representation from nine states, with three hailing from California and two from Indiana. Three Pacific-10 Conference schools are represented with ASU's Boardman, Stanford's Nicole Powell and Washington's Guiliana Mendiola.
Six invitees helped the United States earn its 2001 Junior World Championship berth and 10 others participated in the 2000 USA Junior National Team Trials. Thirteen of the 17 college freshmen earned all-conference accolades, while seven of the eight high school seniors, as well as all four high school juniors, are listed as All-Americans, and the lone junior college participant was selected a 2001 NJCAA All-America honorable mention.
2000 USA Basketball Development Coach of the Year and University of Connecticut head coach Geno Auriemma will direct the 2001 USA Basketball Women's Junior World Championship Team, and will be assisted by University of Oklahoma's Sherri Coale and Northeastern University's (Mass.) Willette White.
Held every four years since 1985, the United States is the defending FIBA Junior World Champions having won its first gold medal in four tries at the event in Natal, Brazil, at the 1997 Junior Worlds. Featuring 12 teams, the 2001 FIBA Women's Junior World Championship is scheduled to be contested July 14-22 in Brno, Czech Republic.