May 6, 2003

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Sixty of the top collegiate athletes have accepted invitations to the May 22-25 USA Basketball Women's National Team Trials, USA Basketball announced today. Texas Tech's Erin Grant is among those 60 who will be attending the trials.

The USA Trials, which will be held at the U.S. Olympic Training Center (USOTC) in Colorado Spring, Colo., will be used to select a pair of 12-member 2003 USA Basketball Teams, including the USA World Championship For Young Women and USA Pan American Games squads. The USA Young Women's National Team, which will be comprised of athletes 21-years-old and younger (born on or after Jan. 1, 1982), will compete in the inaugural FIBA World Championship For Young Women in Sibenik, Croatia, July 25-Aug. 3; while the 2003 Pan American Games action is set to take place Aug. 2-9 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

The Ohio State University's Jim Foster will serve as head coach for the 2003 USA Basketball World Championship For Young Women Team and collegiate head coaches, Kathy Delaney-Smith of Harvard University (Mass.) and Felisha Legette-Jack of Hofstra University (N.Y.) will assist Foster.

The USA Pan American Games Team will be piloted by University of Virginia head coach Debbie Ryan, with collegiate head coaches Kathi Bennett of Indiana University and Trina Patterson of the University of Albany (N.Y.) acting as assistants.

Included among the 60 invitees are 17 previous USA Basketball medallists, four others who have been named as a finalist to a USA Basketball squad and 10 more who have participated in USA Basketball Trials. Nineteen were listed as 2003 All-Americans by the Associated Press (A.P.), U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) and Kodak/Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA); one was named NJCAA All-American, one was selected the NAIA Player of the Year, six earned conference Player of the Year honors; six were named Rookie of the Year or Newcomer of the Year by their respective conferences, and a total of 45 earned post-season conference honors across the country.

For more information about the trials, please visit USA Basketball's web site at www.usabasketball.com

2003 USA Basketball Women's National Team Trials Roster

Name			POS	HT	School/Hometown
Seimone Augustus	F	6-1	Louisiana State/Baton Rouge, La.
Mistie Bass		C	6-3	Duke/Janesville, Wis.
Jacqueline Batteast	F	6-2	Notre Dame/South Bend, Ind.
Alana Beard		G	5-11	Duke/Shreveport, La.
*Jenni Benningfield	F	6-3	Vanderbilt/Louisville, Ky.
Tera Bjorklund		C	6-5	Colorado/St. Peter, Minn.
Steffanie Blackmon	F	6-2	Baylor/Dallas, Texas
Nikki Blue		G	5-8	UCLA/Bakersfield, Calif.
Kala Bowers		F	6-2	Texas/Woodward, Okla.
Natasha Brackett	G	5-9	Auburn/Charlotte, N.C.
*Rebekkah Brunson	F	6-3	Georgetown/Oxon Hill, M.D.
*Jamie Carey		G	5-6	Texas/Thornton, Colo.
Danielle Cheesman	F/C	6-2	Brigham Young/Orem, Utah
Shameka Christon	F	6-1	Arkansas/Hot Springs, Ark.
Jessalyn Deveny	        G	5-9	Boston College/Westford, Mass.
*Heather Ernest		F	6-1	Maine/Farmington, Maine
Candace Futrell		G	5-10	Duquesne/Altoona, Pa.
Cherrise Graham	        G	5-7	Virginia/Conshohocken, Pa.
Erin Grant		G	5-8	Texas Tech/Arlington, Texas
Vanessa Hayden	        C	6-4	Florida/Orlando, Fla.
Jessica Henson		G	5-11	Union University/Bradford, Tenn.
Doneeka Hodges	        G	5-9	Louisiana State/New Orleans, La.
Roneeka Hodges	        F	5-10	#Louisiana State/New Orleans, La.
Ebony Hoffman		F	6-2	Southern California/Harbor City, Calif.
Amber Jacobs		G	5-8	Boston College/Clarks Summit, Pa.
Tamara James		G/F	5-9	Miami/Dania, Fla.
Temeka Johnson	        G	5-3	Louisiana State/Kenner, La.
Chandi Jones		G	5-10	Houston/Bay City, Texas
Valerie King		G	5-10	Cincinnati/Washington Court House, Ohio
Laurie Koehn		G	5-8	Kansas State/Hesston, Kan.
Courtney LaVere	        F	6-3	Notre Dame/Ventura, Calif.
Kristen Mann		G/F	6-2	UC Santa Barbara/Santa Ana, Calif.
Caity Matter		G	5-8	Ohio State/Bluffton, Ohio
Janel McCarville	F/C	6-2	Minnesota/Stevens Point, Wis.
Giuliana Mendiola	G	5-10	Washington/Lake Forest, Calif.
Courtney Mix		G/F	5-10	Villanova/Perrysburg, Ohio
Loree Moore		G	5-9	Tennessee/Harbor City, Calif.
Natashia Morehead	F	5-11	Gulf Coast C.C./Panama City, Fla.
Nina Norman		G	5-6	Texas/Houston, Texas
Amber Obaze		G	5-8	Louisiana Tech/Dallas, Texas
Nicole Ohlde		C	6-4	Kansas State/Clay Center, Kan.
Shawntinice Polk	C	6-5	Arizona/Hanford, Calif.
Cappie Pondexter	G	5-9	Rutgers/Chicago, Ill.
Nicole Powell		F	6-2	Stanford/Phoenix, Ariz.
Heather Schreiber	F	6-2	Texas/Windthorst, Texas
Stacy Stephens		F	6-1	Texas/Winnsboro, Texas
Ann Strother		G	6-1	Connecticut/Castle Rock, Colo.
*Lindsay Taylor		C	6-8	UC Santa Barbara/Chandler, Ariz.
Christi Thomas		F/C	6-5	Georgia/Buford, Ga.
Lindsay Thomas	        C	6-3	Colorado State/Sioux Falls, S.D.
*Iciss Tillis		F	6-4	Duke/Tulsa, Okla.
Barbara Turner		F/G	6-0	Connecticut/Cleveland, Ohio
Ruby Vaden		C	6-3	Arkansas/Osceola, Ark.
Kendra Wecker		F	5-11	Kansas State/Marysville, Kan.
Chelsi Welch		G	5-9	Oklahoma/Plainview, Texas
Lindsay Whalen		G	5-8	Minnesota/Hutchinson, Minn.
Crystal White		F/C	6-3	Louisiana State/Mt. Clemens, Mich.
Kimberly Wilburn	G	5-6	Ohio State/Southfield, Mich.
Toccara Williams	G	5-9	Texas A&M/Hollywood, Fla.
Tanisha Wright		G	5-11	Penn State/West Mifflin, Pa.

*Eligible for the 2003 USA Pan American Games Team only.     #Transferring from Louisiana State