USA Basketball announced Sunday the 16 finalists for the U19 World Championship Team.
Oregon guard Taylor Lilley, who traveled to Colorado Springs, Colo. for the trials, was left off the list of finalists. Lilley, who averaged 8.3 points her freshman year, tied Carolyn Ganes for the most three-pointers made with 39.
Reached by phone Sunday afternoon, Lilley looked back at the past two days. Lilley said Sunday the trials were pretty standard.
Players had two sessions Friday and another two on Saturday. Sunday the players gathered and coaches told the players who had made the team. Lilley said a highlight was seeing former WNBA players and current college coaches Cynthia Cooper and Dawn Staley.
The players who didn’t make it left and returned to their respective schools.
“I felt pretty good about it,” Lilley said of her performance. “That’s just the way it goes.”
Among the 16 finalists are Tennessee recruits Angie Bjorklund and Victoria Baugh, North Carolina recruit Italee Lucas, Connecticut recruit Maya Moore and Duke recruits Jasmine Thomas and Krystal Thomas.
The finalists will meet up again in Washington, D.C., on July 12th to get ready to go to Europe on July 17.
DePaul’s Doug Bruno is coaching the team and he is being assisted by Carol Owens and Cooper.
The selections were made by the USA Basketball Women’s Collegiate Committee.
“I think they did an excellent job naming the U19 finalists,” Bruno said in a media release. “They gave us a solid mix of talent and skill from which I think we can create a very strong, competitive team.”
– Jeffrey Dransfeldt