Alarie Picked For The 2017 USA Basketball U19 World Cup Team

USA Basketball Release

COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO – Bella Alarie's remarkable freshman campaign got even better on Sunday afternoon as she was named to the USA Women's Basketball U-19 2017 FIBA World Cup Team.

It's surreal," said Alarie when speaking with USA Basketball. "I was so nervous sitting in that room waiting for the names to be called, but when I heard my name, my heart kind of dropped. I'm so excited. This is an incredible opportunity, and I'm so excited to represent this country. I think I played my heart out this weekend, and I'm glad that showed to the staff and committee."

Following a two-week training camp from July 7th-21st, the 12-member U-19 National Team will participate in the 2017 FIBA U-19 World Cup from July 22-30 in Udine and Cividale del Fruili, Italy. The U-19 squad is coached by Suzie McConnell-Serio of Pittsburgh. She is assisted by Kamie Ethridge from Northern Colorado and Charlotte Smith from Elon.

"I'm so proud of Bella, who earned the chance to represent her country at the highest and international level," said Princeton head coach Courtney Banghart. "Her relentless pursuit of excellence has been so fun to coach and I'll look forward to being her fan this summer. All of Tiger Nation celebrates alongside her and will be rooting for her and the team every step of the way. Go get the gold!"

The Ivy League Rookie of the Year and first team All-Ivy League player did not miss a game this season and was instantly inserted into the starting lineup. Alarie led the Tigers in scoring (12.6), rebounding (8.0), three-point field goal percentage (.379) and blocks (1.7). She was fourth in the conference in blocks and defensive rebounds (177), fifth in rebounds, sixth in three-point field goal percentage, seventh in points (377), eighth in offensive rebounds (64), ninth in field goals (139) and field goal percentage (.432) and 10th in points per game.

The Bethesda, Md., native is in the top five all-time for freshman single-season records in blocks (first) games played (tied for first), three-point attempts (109, second), three-pointers made (39, third), rebounds (241, third), points (fourth), field goals (fifth) and field goal attempts (322).

With her stellar season, Alarie helped Princeton to its eighth straight postseason tournament during the 2016-17 season, the best stretch in program history.

Named to the 2017 USA U19 World Cup Team were: Bella Alarie (Princeton/Bethesda, Md.); Jeannie Boehm (Harvard/Winnetka, Ill.); Chennedy Carter (Timberview H.S./Arlington, Texas); Crystal Dangerfield (Connecticut/Murfreesboro, Tenn.); Tyasha Harris (South Carolina/Noblesville, Ind.); Ruthy Hebard (Oregon/Fairbanks, Alaska); Joyner Holmes (Texas/Cedar Hill, Texas); Kayla Overbeck (Vanderbilt/Newbury Park, Calif.); Reili Richardson (Arizona State/Brea, Calif.); Alecia Sutton (Texas/St. Louis, Mo.); Megan Walker (Monacan H.S./Chesterfield, Va.); and Christyn Williams (Central Arkansas Christian School/Little Rock, Ark.).

"This group of kids made it a really difficult decision for the committee," said George Washington University head coach Jennifer Rizzotti, chair of the selection committee. "We felt that the overall competitiveness, coachability and maturity gave us a lot of great options to choose from. We feel confident that we selected a great 12-member team that will proudly represent the United States in the FIBA U19 World Cup."

"I'm really excited about the personnel that we have on this team as the journey begins to prepare to try and win a gold medal," said McConnell-Serio. "Watching these players through the trials, there were so many great players here, and this is a special team. The committee put together a team we feel very confident in, in their skill-set, in the energy that they will bring in representing the United States and the pride they will have in doing so. I'm really excited to have the opportunity to work with these players."

Originally known as the FIBA Junior World Championship, FIBA changed the names of its age-based world championships in 2005 to reflect the age of eligibility, and recently updated the names of all of its world championships to world cups. The tournament was held every four years starting in 1985. FIBA in 2005 modified its calendar and now conducts the U19 World Cup every other year. USA women's teams are 73-12 in U19/Junior World Cups, capturing a sixth-consecutive gold in 2015 with a 7-0 record.

USA was placed in Group A and will open against Mali on July 22, face China on July 23 and cap the preliminary round against host Italy on July 25. Following the preliminary round, teams will be seeded according to group play, and all participating teams will advance to the July 26 round of 16. Winners will advance to the July 28 medal quarterfinals, while the remaining teams will continue playing out for classification. The medal semifinals will be held July 29, and the gold and bronze medal games are slated for July 30.

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