Louisville guard Shoni Schimmel was among 35 of the nation’s top 19-and-under athletes who have accepted invitations to attend the 2011 USA Women’s U19 World Championship Team Trials, USA Basketball announced today. Trials will be held May 22-25 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. Invitations to the trials were issued by the USA Basketball Women’s Junior National Team Committee, chaired by Sue Donohoe, NCAA vice president for Division I women’s basketball.
Schimmel finished her freshman season ranked second on the team in scoring with 15.1 points per game. She led the team in assists with 4.9 per game and ranked second in the league. She dished out a career-high 12 assists against UT-Martin and has registered two double-doubles on the year. She was named a first team Freshman All-American by Full Court Press. Schimmel was a unanimous selection to the BIG EAST All-Freshman team and earned BIG EAST Honorable mention honors. She led the team and all freshmen in scoring in the NCAA Tournament with 23.3 points per game. She finished the tournament shooting 51.9 percent from the field and 39.3 percent from behind the arc while dishing out three assists per game.
The USA U19 World Championship Team training camp will open June 1-5 at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., as part of the ESPN RISE Girls Showcase. The USA will train for four days before facing the Brazil U19 National Team on June 5. The game will be televised on ESPNU and also shown online at ESPN3.com.
Then on July 11-15, the USA U19 squad will reassemble for training at the U.S. Olympic Training Center, before the team travels to Chile for its final preparations.
As the winner of the past three U19 World Championships, the USA will look to defend its title at the 2011 U19 Worlds, hosted by Chile from July 21-31 in Puerto Montt and Puerto Varas. The USA has been drawn into Group B for preliminary round play and will tip-off against Japan on July 21 (12:30 p.m. EDT), face Russia on July 22 (12:30 p.m. EDT) and close the first round against Argentina on July 23 (10:15 a.m. EDT). The second round will be played July 25-27, quarterfinals are slated for July 29, semifinals will be held on July 30 and the finals are scheduled for July 31.
Current collegiate athletes invited to participate in the 2011 USA U19 World Championship Team Trials are eligible and may also be considered for the 2011 USA World University Games Team. Trials for both teams will take place in staggered sessions May 22-25. The 2011 World University Games women’s basketball competition is scheduled for Aug. 14-21 in Shenzhen, China.
In addition to Donohoe, the committee includes NCAA appointees Joanne Boyle (University of Virginia), Coquese Washington (Penn State University) and Connie Yori (University of Nebraska), as well as athlete representative Beth Cunningham (Virginia Commonwealth University, 1999 USA Pan American Games Team member).
Originally known as the FIBA Junior World Championship, the tournament was held every four years from 1985 through 2005. FIBA now conducts the U19 World Championship every other year. USA women's teams are 49-11 all-time in U19/Junior World championships, most recently capturing a third consecutive gold with an 8-1 record in 2009.
Also accepting invitations to the 2011 USA U19 World Championship Team Trials are: Jordan Adams (Mater Dei H.S. / Irvine, Calif.); Cierra Burdick (Butler H.S. / Matthews, N.C.); Briyona Canty (Trenton Catholic Academy / Willingboro, N.J.); Andraya Carter (Buford H.S. / Flowery Branch, Ga.); Diamond DeShields (Norcross H.S. / Norcross, Ga.); Stefanie Dolson (Connecticut / Port Jervis, N.Y.); Aaryn Ellenberg (Oklahoma / Las Vegas, Nev.); Chassidy Fussell (Texas / Troy, Tenn.); Karla Gilbert (Texas A&M / College Station, Texas); Bashaara Graves (Clarksville H.S. / Clarksville, Tenn.); Bria Hartley (Connecticut / North Babylon, N.Y.); Justine Hartman (Brea Olinda H.S. / Brea, Calif.); Kaneisha Horn (Alabama / Birmingham, Ala.); Malina Howard (Twinsburg H.S. / Twinsburg, Ohio); Moriah Jefferson (Texas Home Educators Sports Association / Glenn Heights, Texas); Alexis Jones (Irving MacArthur H.S. / Irving, Texas); Betnijah Laney (Smyrna H.S. / Clayton, Del.); Allyson Malott (Madison H.S. / Middletown, Ohio); Tyaunna Marshall (Georgia Tech / Upper Marlboro, Md.); Ariel Massengale (Bolingbrook H.S. / Bolingbrook, Ill.); Khaalidah Miller (Georgia / Atlanta, Ga.); Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis (Mater Dei H.S. / Anaheim, Calif.); Cassie Peoples (Cy-Fair H.S. / Houston, Texas); Theresa Plaisance (LSU / Marrero, La.); Meighan Simmons (Tennessee / Cibolo, Texas); Odyssey Sims (Baylor / Irving, Texas); Bria Smith (Christ the King H.S. / Massapequa, N.Y.); Imani Stafford (Winward H.S. / Los Angeles, Calif.); Breanna Stewart (Cicero-North Syracuse H.S. / North Syracuse, N.Y.); Kiah Stokes (Linn-Mar H.S. / Marion, Iowa); Alyssa Thomas (Maryland / Harrisburg, Pa.); Morgan Tuck (Bolingbrook H.S. / Bolingbrook, Ill.); Alexyz Vaioletama (Mater Dei H.S. / Fountain Valley, Calif.); and Elizabeth Williams (Princess Anne H.S. / Virginia Beach, Va.).
