AUS - A good mix for Opals
CANBERRA (FIBA Oceania Championship for Women/FIBA World Championship for Women) - Australia coach Brendan Joyce has the all-time leading scorer in Olympic history, Lauren Jackson, in his squad for the FIBA Oceania Championship along with fellow London Games participants Belinda Snell and Jenni Screen. But the new Opals boss has also opened the door to ...
CANBERRA (FIBA Oceania Championship for Women/FIBA World Championship for Women) - Australia coach Brendan Joyce has the all-time leading scorer in Olympic history, Lauren Jackson, in his squad for the FIBA Oceania Championship along with fellow London Games participants Belinda Snell and Jenni Screen.
But the new Opals boss has also opened the door to 1.70m guard Kelly Wilson and 1.94m center Natalie Burton, a couple of WNBL players that have been hugely impressive this summer.
Both should feature for the Aussies against New Zealand in Auckland on Wednesday and then on home soil in Canberra on Sunday.
"I think a lot of people know Kelly Wilson after her exploits in the WNBL finals for the Bendigo Spirit and at age 28 to be debuting for the Opals this year is a fantastic achievement," Joyce said.
"Natalie came into this program as part of the squad for the World University Games and really caught the eye of the coaching staff, and you can see with each camp she is improving and is an exciting prospect."
The side that wins the Oceania title will qualify for the 2014 FIBA World Championship for Women in Turkey.
Since the first FIBA Oceania Championship in 1974, Australia have never fallen to the Tall Ferns.
"We’re very excited about the games coming up and you can tell around the squad that the girls are itching to play," Joyce said.
"I think we’ve put together a very good team that has a mixture of experienced international players and young players making their way in the Opals program.
"We’ve got eight players from the WNBL in the team and those four players who represented Australia at the 2012 London Olympics."
"It’s also very exciting to have Lauren (Jackson) playing in the series and back in an Opals uniform to her back on track after a bad run with injuries."
Australia squad for FIBA Oceania Championship for Women: Natalie Burton, Cayla Francis, Laura Hodges, Natalie Hurst, Lauren Jackson, Tess Madgen, Jennifer Screen, Belinda Snell, Marianna Tolo, Kristen Veal, Kelly Wilson and Hanna Zavecz.
FIBA