SELECTION SATURDAY: USA Basketball U18 Women’s Team is named for AmeriCup tipping on June 17 in Colombia

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – A dozen of the most talented women’s basketball players from North America will represent the USA U18 National Team it was announced Saturday night.

The 12-member roster, selected from 26 trials participants, will compete at the 2024 FIBA U18 Women’s AmeriCup from June 17-23 in Bucaramanga, Colombia. The team was selected by the USA Basketball Women’s Junior National Team Committee and will reconvene for training camp in Colorado Springs on June 8.

The USA women own 11 of 13 gold U18 gold medals and 10 consecutive dating back to 2000. The top four teams will earn a berth to the 2025 FIBA U19 Women’s World Cup.

The roster features athletes who are members of the high school graduating classes of 2024 and 2025. Athletes eligible for this team must be U.S. citizens, born on or after January 1, 2006.

The 2024 Women’s U18 National Team features seven members who played teams that appeared in the 2023-24 Blue Star Media Elite 25 girls’ high school rankings:

Sienna Betts, Jasmine Davidson, Joyce Edwards, Madison Francis, Kayleigh Heckel, ZaKiyah Johnson, Jordan Lee, Leah Macy, Alivia McGill, Arianna Roberson, Kennedy Smith and Sarah Strong.

Five athletes have previous USA Basketball competitive experience. Edwards won gold last summer at the FIBA U19 Women’s World Cup, while Strong has a pair of gold medals from the 2022 and 2023 FIBA 3×3 U18 Women’s World Cups. Edwards, Lee, Roberson, Smith and Strong represented the USA at the 2024 Nike Hoop Summit.

Teri Moren (Indiana) will serve as the USA’s head coach along with assistants Jose Fernandez (South Florida) and Niele Ivey (Notre Dame).

The 2024 FIBA U18 Women’s AmeriCup features eight teams.

Recently, FIBA announced that the U.S. drew Group B with Brazil, Mexico and Puerto Rico. The USA will tip off competition June 17 vs. Brazil at 4:10 p.m. ET followed by tilts against Puerto Rico and Mexico on June 18 (4:10 p.m. ET) and 19 (1:40 p.m. ET), respectively.

— From USA Basketball Communications