USA confirms eight players for FIBA Women's AmeriCup 2023 after trials

MIAMI, Florida – USA Basketball has announced that they have selected eight athletes to the 2023 USA Women’s AmeriCup Team following three days of trials in Colorado Springs, as well as five finalists who will return for AmeriCup training camp beginning June 22 to compete for the remaining roster spots. The FIBA Women's AmeriCup will be held in Leon, Guanajuato in Mexico from July 1-9.

 

The eight 2023 USA Women’s AmeriCup Team members who are confirmed to the 12-person roster are Lauren Betts, Rickea Jackson, Raven Johnson, Rayah Marshall, Charisma Osborne, Laila Phelia, Angel Reese and Jewel Spear.

Johnson with South Carolina and Reese with LSU both played in the 2023 NCAA Women’s March Madness national championship game, with Reese winning the tournament’s most outstanding player honour.

 

Betts with Stanford, Jackson with Tennessee, Osborne with UCLA, Marshall with USC and Phelia with Michigan all also played in the 2023 NCAA Women’s March Madness tournament this past spring. Spear and Wake Forest played in the Women’s NIT.

The finalists are Janiah Barker of Texas A&M, Makira Cook of Illinois, Abbey Hsu of Columbia, Chance Gray of Oregon and LSU transfer Aneesah Morrow. Other athletes who were not at the trials may also be invited to training camp as a part of the selection process.

The players who make the final roster are selected by the USA Basketball Women’s Junior National Team Committee, chaired by DePaul University women’s basketball head coach Doug Bruno.

 

The team is coached by Washington State University head coach Kamie Ethridge, South Dakota State University head coach Aaron Johnston, and newly appointed head coach of the University of Cincinnati Katrina Merriweather.

The United States will face Argentina, Brazil, Cuba and Venezuela as part of Group A that was drawn to form two five-team groups for the 2023 FIBA Women’s AmeriCup on May 10.

The U.S. opens tournament play against Venezuela July 1, followed by Argentina July 2, Brazil July 4 and finishes with Cuba on July 5. Quarter-Finals are scheduled for July 7, Semi-Finals on July 8 and the gold and bronze medal games on July 9.

Since the inaugural women’s event in 1993, the United States has captured four AmeriCup gold medals, including back-to-back titles in the last two editions of the even in 2019 and 2021. Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Venezuela will participate alongside USA in the 2023 FIBA AmeriCup.

FIBA