Australian U17 Women’s FIBA World Championships team finalised
After the announcement of the men’s squad last week, Basketball Australia today released the Jayco Australian U17 Sapphires team that will participate in the 2016 FIBA U17 World Championships for women from 22 June in Zaragoza, Spain.
What was originally a squad of 18 has been narrowed down to 12, with Isabelle Bourne, Shyla Heal, Darcy Rees, Taylor Mole, Chelsea D’Angelo and Emma Clarke missing the cut. Ula Motuga, who was named on the injury reserve last week, will not be participating in the tournament.
“Our camp was really competitive and it was a tough selection process but I am very excited about the group of players we have selected to represent Australia,” Sapphires head coach Shannon Seebohm stated via a media release.
“We have depth at each position and every player brings something a little different so I’m confident we will be prepared for any style of play we come across.”
The team will be headlined by the duo of Jasmine Simmons and Samantha Simons, who both had stellar showings at this year’s Basketball Australia U18 Junior Championships. Simmons has the capability to impact the game in a variety of ways; evident by her per game averages of 17 points, 12.8 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 3.1 steals at this year's national championships.
Ezi Magbegor and Jasmine Simmons | Credit: Basketball Australia / Kangaroo Photos
Simons is able to provide a greater scoring punch than Simmons, as the South Australian led the U18 Championships in that department with 18.3 points per game, while shooting 40% from the field and 32% from the three-point line.
Additionally, four players from the victorious Victoria Metro team will join the Australian squad. Monique Conti, Ezi Magbegor, Kiera Rowe and Lucy Cochrane all will bring a winning mindset to the squad, with Jazmin Shelley (Victoria Country) and Rebecca Pizzey making it six in total from Victoria.
At the last FIBA U17 World Championships back in 2014, the Sapphires finished fifth, and will be looking to improve on that effort this year. # Name State Club School 11 Lucy Cochrane VIC Nunawading Spectres / CoE Canberra High, Canberra 15 Monique Conti VIC Melbourne Tigers Maribyrnong Secondary College 5 Abby Cubillo NT Tracy Village Jets / CoE Lake Ginnindera, Belconnen 14 Miela Goodchild QLD Logan Thunder Morton Bay College, Manly 13 Ezi Magbegor VIC Coburg Giants / CoE Lake Ginnindera, Belconnen 6 Cassidy McLean NSW Newcastle Hunters St. Francis Xavier College, Hamilton 12 Lara McSpadden NSW Newcastle Hunters / CoE Lake Ginnindera, Belconnen 8 Rebecca Pizzey VIC Bulleen Boomers / CoE Radford College, Bruce 9 Kiera Rowe VIC Bulleen Boomers / CoE Radford College, Bruce 4 Jazmin Shelley VIC Southern Peninsula / CoE Canberra High, Canberra 7 Jasmine Simmons NSW Mildura Heat / CoE Lake Ginnindera, Belconnen 10 Samantha Simons SA Forestville Eagles / CoE Lake Ginnindera, Belconnen
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