Complete USA Basketball Trials Invitee Roster
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May 11, 2007

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Marquette University sophomore guard Krystal Ellis is one of 45 of the nation's elite collegiate women's basketball players who have accepted invitations to the 2007 USA Basketball Women's National Team Trials held at the U.S. Olympic Training Center (USOTC) in Colorado Springs, Colo., May 17-20. The invitations were issued by USA Basketball Women's Collegiate Committee, which is chaired by Sue Donohue, the NCAA's vice president of Division I women's basketball. The Committee is expected to announce finalists for the 2007 USA U21 World Championship Team and the 20007 USA Pan American Games Team on May 20.

"We are extremely excited that Krystal was recognized by USA Basketball and invited to its National Team Trials," said head coach Terri Mitchell. "I think the opportunity she has in front of her from something as prestigious as USA Basketball says not only a lot of Krystal as a player, but about our program as well. We know what she is capable of and know that she will make the best of this incredible opportunity."

Ellis, Marquette's first Associated Press All-America Honorable Mention selection since 2000, earned First Team All-BIG EAST honors and was named to the BIG EAST All-Tournament Team for the 2006-07 season. She helped guide MU to a program best 26-7 overall record and a berth in the NCAA Tournament.

For her sophomore season, Ellis led the Golden Eagles with 18.0 points per game, an average that ranked her 38th in the nation and fourth in the BIG EAST. She ranked among the top players in the league in several other statistical categories; assists (3.48, 14th), free throw percentage (87.2, second, 14th in the nation), steals (2.21, tied-third), three-point field goal percentage (35.5, 12th), three-point field goals made (1.97, fourth) and assists to turnover ratio (1.28, 11th). Ellis is one of 10 BIG EAST players to accept the invitation to attend the trials.

"I am very excited to be invited to the trials and want to work my hardest toward making the team," said Ellis. "This is a great opportunity for me to play with the top players in the country and to represent Marquette to the best of my ability. To know that there are 10 BIG EAST players fighting for a spot says a lot about the depth and talent of the conference."

The USA will look to defend its world title in this age group, open to athletes 21-years-old or younger (born on or after Jan. 1, 1986), at the 2007 FIBA U21 World Championship, held this year June 29-Aug. 8 in Moscow, Russia. Duke University (N.C.) head coach Joanne McCallie returns as the USA's head coach after piloting the 2006 USA U20 National Team to a gold medal at the 2006 FIBA Americas U20 Championship. She will be assisted by collegiate head coaches Sam Dixon of Furman University (S.C.), an assistant to McCallie last summer, and Arizona State University's Charli Turner Thorne. The USA U21 finalists, named following the USA Trials will reconvene in Colorado Springs June 12 to begin training for the tournament, and the eventual 12-member team will be named prior to the squad departing for Europe on June 16. The United States was placed in Group B in the 12-nation tournament along with Australia, Brazil, Hungary, Japan and Spain. Group A includes Belgium, Canada, China, Mali, France and Russia.

The Pan American Games women's basketball tournament will be held July 20-24 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and will feature eight national teams from FIBA Americas. Coaching the USA squad will be Temple University head coach Dawn Staley, a 2007-08 USA Basketball Women's Senior National Team assistant coach. Assisting Staley will be collegiate head coaches Kathy Delaney-Smith of Harvard University (Mass.) and Bill Gibbons of College of the Holy Cross (Mass.). The USA Pan Ams finalists named following the USA Trials will reconvene on July 6 in Washington, D.C., and the eventual 12-member squad will be named prior to the team departing for Brazil on July 16.

Jacques Curtis of Shaw University (N.C.), Donnita Drain of Langston University (Okla.) and Narleski Wyrick of Southwestern Christian College (Texas) will serve as court coaches for the 2007 Women's National and Junior National Teams Trials.

Trials will feature an opening session on May 17 beginning at 6:30 p.m. (all times MDT), followed by two-a-days May 18-19 with the morning session tipping-off at 10:00 a.m. and the evening session at 5:30 p.m. USA Basketball is expected to announce finalists for each team following the morning session on May 20. The 2007 USA U19 National Team Trials will also take place May 17-20 at the USOTC, however, the U19 sessions will take place at different times during the weekend.

The 45 athletes under consideration for the two USA squads represent 32 schools from 11 NCAA Division I conferences and one junior college. Maryland, Georgia and Rutgers lead the universities with three representatives each. The Big East tops the list of conferences with 10 representatives, while the ACC and SEC are represented by eight and six athletes, respectively.

FIBA U21 World Championship
Held just once four years ago (2003) when it was known as the FIBA World Championship For Young Women, the USA captured the 2003 gold medal with a 7-1 record in Sibenik, Croatia. In the gold medal contest the U.S. avenged a 73-60 preliminary round loss to Brazil with a dominating 71-55 rout as tournament MVP Seimone Augustus paced the U.S. to the gold with 18 points. Augustus was joined on the five-member 2003 All-FIBA World Championship For Young Women Team by the USA's Alana Beard and Christi Thomas. FIBA changed the names of its age-based World Championships in 2005 to reflect the age athletes must be to be eligible for the event.

Pan American Games
The Pan American Games, held every four years in the year prior to the Olympics and organized by the Pan American Sports Organization (PASO), is a multi-sport competition open to men and women representing countries from North, South and Central America and the Caribbean.

This summer the Pan American Games will be held July 13-30, with the women's basketball competition slated for July 20-24, in Rio de Janerio, Brazil.

Started in 1951 for men and 1955 for women, the Pan American Games are held every four years in the year preceding the Olympics. Only countries from FIBA Americas are eligible to compete. The USA women have won six of 12 gold medals and rolled up a 67-12 record. Competing against national teams from the Americas, the 2003 USA Pan Ams squad featured 12 collegians who banded together to come away with the silver medal.

USA Basketball Women's Collegiate Committee
In addition to Donohoe, members of the USA Basketball Women's Collegiate Committee include: athlete representatives Beth Cunningham (Virginia Commonwealth University), a member of the 1999 USA Pan American Games Team, and 1996 Olympic gold medalist Carla McGhee (WNBA Director of Player Personnel); from the NAIA is Martha Gore-Algernon (University of Mobile); NCAA appointees include Sherri Coale (University of Oklahoma), Jim Foster (Ohio State University), Trina Patterson (University at Albany) and Tara VanDerveer (Stanford University); Mary "Roonie" Scovel (Gulf Coast Community College) represents the NJCAA; and Wendy Larry (Old Dominion University) was appointed to the Committee by the WBCA.