Texas Tech University Athletics
Braziel to Represent USA
June 21, 1999 | Women's Basketball
July 1, 1998
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Following four days of trials involving 36 current and former collegiate standouts, the USA Basketball Women's Select Team Committee announced on June 26 the 12 players, including Texas Tech senior Angie Braziel, selected for the 1998 USA Basketball Women's R. William Jones Cup Team and the 12 players chosen for USA Basketball's 1998 Women's Select Team.
While the 98 USA Jones Cup roster includes two members of the 1998 NCAA national champion University of Tennessee squad, All-Final Four forward Tamika Catchings (Duncanville, Texas) and guard Semeka Randall (Cleveland, Ohio), and North Carolina State center and 1998 Final Four participant Summer Erb (Lakewood, Ohio), the 1998 USA Select Team roster is highlighted by North Carolina State guard Tynesha Lewis (Pinetops, N.C.) who also participated in this year's Final Four.
Named to the 1998 USA Basketball R. William Jones Cup Team were: Angie Braziel (Texas Tech / Odessa, Texas); Edwina Brown (Texas / Lockhart, Texas); Peppi Browne (Duke / Silver Spring, Md.); Erin Buescher (UC Santa Barbara / Rohnert Park, Calif.); Catchings; Erb; Erica Gomez (UCLA / Keyport, N.J.); Becky Hammon (Colorado State / Rapid City, S.D.); Lynn Pride (Kansas / Dallas, Texas); Randall; Tamika Whitmore (Memphis / Tupelo, Miss.) and Chanel Wright (North Carolina / Baltimore, Md.).
USA Basketball Women's National Team Program head coach Nell Fortner will pilot the 1998 USA Basketball R. William Jones Cup Team. Serving as Fortner's assistants will be University of Iowa head coach Angie Lee and College of William and Mary (Va.) head mentor Trina Patterson. The 1998 USA Jones Cup team will reassemble and train August 3-8 in Colorado Springs. The U.S. squad is scheduled to make a historic tour of North Korea from August 9-18, then it will participate in the August 23-27 R. William Jones Cup in Taipei, Taiwan.
"I'm very excited about working with this team. It is a team that not only has some exceptional athletes, but one that is made up by some very, very competitive athletes. We have a good mixture of young and older college players and we should be a very versatile team," said U.S. mentor Fortner.
Named to the 1998 USA Basketball Select Team were: Katy Douglas (Purdue / Indianapolis, Ind.); Ukari Figgs (Purdue / Georgetown, Ky.); Andrea Garner (Penn State / Philadelphia, Pa.); Lewis; Laura Meadows (Kentucky / Huntington, W.Va.); Jamie Redd (Washington / San Francisco, Calif.); Ruth Riley (Notre Dame / Macy, Ind.); Jackie Stiles (Southwest Missouri State / Claflin, Kan.); Stacey Thomas (Michigan / Flint, Mich.); Michele VanGorp (Duke / Macomb, Mich.); DeMya Walker (Virginia / Mt. Holly, N.J.) and Brooke Wyckoff (Florida State / West Chester, Ohio).
The 1998 USA Basketball Women's Select Team will train June 26-30 in Colorado Springs, then will play in a four-team tournament in Puerto Rico July 3-5. The USA Select Team will face a Puerto Rico Select Team on July 3, a Dominican Republic Select Team on July 4, and the Puerto Rico National Team on July 5. The U.S. team will also play two games in Poland against its Select Team on July 8 and 9, and will wrap up its tour with three games in Spain against a Spanish Select Team July 12, 13 and 14. University of Florida head coach Carol Ross will serve as the USA squad's head coach, and will be assisted by Cal State Fullerton (Calif.) head coach and two-time Olympian Denise Curry and St. John's University (N.Y.) head coach Charlene Thomas-Swinson.
"Obviously we're extremely excited to be representing the USA. I'm excited about the players who will make up the Select Team. We seem to have good quickness, versatility, shooters, defenders, it looks like a very complete squad. We'll just have to work hard to pull it together and make it look like a team," said Ross. "We're excited about the itinerary because we're making stops in three different venues, in Puerto Rico, Poland and Spain. So it gives us the opportunity to kind of bounce around and get a good taste for international basketball and hopefully expose these young ladies to as much basketball as we can over the 20 day period."
The 1998 R. William Jones Cup Team and Women's Select Team were selected by the USA Basketball Women's Select Team Committee, chaired by three-time Olympian and 1998 USA World Championship Team assistant coach, Anne Donovan. The committee includes Leta Andrews (NFSHSA), Cindy DeRocher (NAIA), Teresa Edwards (Athlete Representative), Kamie Ethridge (Athlete Representative), Carroll Graham (AAU), Sylvia Hatchell (WBCA), Mary Ellen Leicht (NJCAA), Bernadette Mattox (NCAA), Rene Portland (NCAA), Amy Ruley (NCAA), Jody Runge (NCAA), and Beverly Williams (Athlete Representative).
