WACO, TX — Baylor University women’s basketball sophomores Queen Egbo and NaLyssa Smith each earned positions on the 2019 USA Basketball Women’s U19 World Cup Team along with 10 other of the top players in the country.
The 12-woman roster will move on to compete at the FIBA U19 World Cup in Bangkok, Thailand. 31 players attended the trials for the team in Colorado Springs, Colo. at the Olympic Training Center and Sunday the team was announced.
The selections were made by the USA Basketball Women’s Junior National Team Committee, chaired by George Washington University head coach Jennifer Rizzotti. The team will be coached by Louisville head coach Jeff Walz.
Joining Egbo and Smith were Francesca Belibi (Regis H.S./Centennial, Colo.); Aliyah Boston (Worcester Academy, Mass./St. Thomas, USVI); Cameron Brink (Southridge H.S./Beaverton, Ore.); Paige Bueckers (Hopkins H.S./St. Louis Park, Minn.); Caitlin Clark (Dowling Catholic H.S./West Des Moines, Iowa); Naz Hillmon-Baker (Michigan/Cleveland, Ohio); Rhyne Howard (Kentucky/Cleveland, Tenn.); Jordan Nixon (Notre Dame/New York, N.Y.); Celeste Taylor (Long Island Lutheran/Valley Stream, N.Y.); and Hailey Van Lith (Cashmere H.S./Wenatchee, Wash.).
The U.S. team will return to Colorado Springs to train July 5-10 before traveling to Tokyo, Japan, where the squad will practice and scrimmage against the Japan U19 National Team July 13-15.
The USA has an additional three days of training and a pair of scrimmages in Bangkok against Argentina and Germany, July 17-19, before the 13th edition of the FIBA U19 World Cup tips off July 20.
Five team members competed as freshmen for NCAA Division I programs this past season, three are from the high school class of 2019 and four will graduate high school in 2020.
All 12 athletes have prior USA Basketball experience, 10 of whom have earned gold medals in international competition.
Smith won a gold medal last summer with the U18 team that took first place in Mexico City. Egbo had also made the squad but elected to move to Waco sooner to begin working out with the Lady Bears.
Smith, from Converse, Texas, averaged 8.1 points and 5.1 rebounds in 38 games played while Egbo (Houston) averaged 5.4 and 4.2, respectively for the Lady Bears that went 37-1 and claimed the 2019 NCAA Division I National Championship.
