USA - USA U19 Women to hold camp and face Brazil in Florida

LAKE BUENA VISTA (2011 FIBA U19 World Championship Women) - The USA's women's team that will compete at this summer's FIBA U19 World Championship for Women in Chile will prepare for the tournament by holding a training camp in Florida and facing their Brazilian counterpart in an exhibition game early next month.

USA Basketball announced over the weekend that their U19 Women's National Team will take part in the inaugural ESPN RISE Girls, a three-week sports festival celebrating female sports at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, between 2-22 June.

The showcase is expected to see close to 15,000 elite and recreational female athletes compete in sports such as basketball, volleyball, softball, taekwendo and gymnastics.

After holding their training camp between 1-4 June, the USA U19 World Championship Team will face their Brazilian counterpart on 5 June, in an exhibition game televised in the United States on ESPNU and streamed online at ESPN3.com.

"USA Basketball is excited to participate in the ESPN RISE Girls Showcase," said USA Basketball CEO Jim Tooley. "This is a terrific opportunity to highlight our 2011 USA U19 World Championship Team, and we are thankful to be able to train at one of the country's top locations against the Brazil U19 World Championship Team. We look forward to a successful event."

"This will be a great opportunity to expose our players to international competition early in the training process," stated USA U19 World Championship Team head coach Jennifer Rizzotti.

"We had a chance to play Brazil in last summer's U18 FIBA Americas qualifying tournament finals and they proved why their teams have been among the world's top 10 through the years.

"We'll use this game to see how we measure up and what we'll still need to work on once we gather for the final training in Colorado Springs.

"We are grateful to ESPN for airing this game and giving us a chance to preview our U19 team in front of the nation. Our fans will be very impressed with the group of girls selected to represent the USA in the U19 World Championship in Chile."

The 2011 FIBA U19 World Championship for Women will take place between 21-31 July in Puerto Montt and Puerto Varas, Chile.

FIBA