CANBERRA (FIBA Oceania U18 Women's Championship 2016) - No fewer than eight members of Australia's trailblazing gold medal team from this year’s FIBA U17 Women's World Championship in Zaragoza will lead the charge towards next year’s FIBA U19 Women’s World Championship in Udine.

Headlining the roster for the FIBA Oceania U18 Women’s Championship 2016 in Fiji are Eziyoda Magbegor who was crowned MVP on a historic night in Spain and she will be joined by her fellow All-Star Five members Jasmine Simmons and Monique Conti.

There are also places for Abby Cubillo, Lara McSpadden, Kiera Rowe, Jazmin Shelley and Samantha Simons who all contributed to one of the greatest accomplishments on the global scene for Australian women’s youth basketball.

If the favourites punch their ticket as expected for Italy in 2017, it is also likely to see Magbegor rack a second outing at the FIBA U19 Women’s World Championship, having stepped out at the previous edition of the tournament in Chekhov during 2015 when the Gems took the last podium step. Small forward Chantel Horvat is also included and she was part of the bronze medal winning team in Russia.

If they progress via the U18 competition in Suva which will take place between 5-10 December, Australia will be gunning for a third consecutive podium finish at U19 level when they touch down in Udine.

"We have a great depth of talent across all positions," said head coach, Paul Goriss. "We have selected a team with versatility, length, athleticism and speed with a defensive mind-set. We know the Oceania Championship will be challenging on and off the court, but we have an adaptable and resilient team with a huge amount of national and international experience.

"It is a privilege and honour to represent Australia and all the staff and players are grateful for the opportunity to put on the green and gold.

"The work that the coaches put in at school, local, association, representative and national league level has assisted the girls in coming into camp in great shape and we would like to acknowledge the work the coaches in our states and territories are doing to help our athletes achieve their goals."

At the FIBA Oceania U18 Women’s Championship 2016, eight teams will fight for one precious ticket to Udine, with the Gems drawn into Group A alongside host nation Fiji, Samoa and Tahiti. Group B consists of Guam, New Caledonia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.

Australia have qualified for every edition of the FIBA U19 Women’s World Championship since the induction of the tournament in 1985 - famously winning a gold medal in 1993.

Ten members of the roster are products of the Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence including Maddison Rocci and Zitina Aokuso. There is also WNBL talent with Chloe Bibby (Dandenong Rangers), Conti (Melbourne Boomers) and McSpadden (Sydney Uni Flames) all featuring in the upcoming 2016-17 WNBL season.

FIBA