Paris, USA Meet Australia Saturday

April 18, 2008

NORMAN, Okla. -- Courtney Paris and the U.S. Women's Senior National Basketball Team begin the 2008 Good Luck Beijing Tournament, a precursor to the Olympic Games, Saturday, April 19.

Team USA faces 2006 World Champion Australia in its first game of preliminary round robin play Saturday at 3:45 a.m. CDT (4:45 p.m. local) at Wukesong Arena. New Zealand vs. Cuba and China vs. South Korea complete the first day's games for the six-nation tournament.

Paris recently completed a three-day training camp with the 10-member U.S. team in Chicago in preparation for the tournament.

"It was fun to be back with Team USA and practice with some of the world's best players," Paris said, "It was a thrill to be on the court with Lisa Leslie, who has been an idol to me since I was eight years old."

Leslie, a three-time Olympic gold medalist, is competing for the first time since taking maternity leave prior to the start of the 2007 WNBA season. Joining Paris and Leslie on the Team USA roster for the Beijing tournament are Swin Cash, Sylvia Fowles, Lindsey Harding, Laura Harper, Crystal Langhorne, Kara Lawson, Katie Smith and Candice Wiggins.

"Our team has a unique dynamic with a mix of well-established players and younger guys," Paris added. "It will be interesting to see how we play together in Beijing.

"It's always been a great experience to be part of USA Basketball and this trip, being my first to China, will be very special."

For more information on the U.S. Senior National Team, visit USABasketball.com.

The U.S. meets Cuba on April 20 (1:30 a.m. CDT), South Korea on April 21 (1:30 a.m. CDT) and, following a rest day, plays New Zealand on April 23 (9:15 a.m. CDT) and closes preliminary play against host China on April 24 (7 a.m. CDT). Teams will then be seeded based on their preliminary round records and play medal games on April 26.

NBA TV (DirecTV channel 601/DISH channel 402) will televise Team USA's games against Cuba, April 20, and China, April 24, live (and re-air at 3 p.m. CDT on those respective days), as well as its final game on April 26.

With Paris on its roster, the U.S. Senior National Team carried an 11-0 record in 2007 and earned a gold medal at the FIBA Americas Championships.

Paris has won seven gold medals as a member of USA Basketball teams and has never been a part of a losing team in elimination games, building a 40-0 record in five years (15-2 in exhibition games).

The U.S. Senior National Team is coached by Anne Donovan with Gail Goestenkors (University of Texas), Dawn Staley (Temple University) and Mike Thibault (Connecticut Sun) serving as assistants.

The 2008 USA Basketball Women's Senior National Team features a total of 29 athletes on its roster, which was selected by the USA Basketball Women's National Team Committee. Paris is the only active collegian in the Senior National Team's 29-member pool.

It is expected that the 12-member 2008 U.S. Olympic Team will come from the USA National Team roster.

The United States qualified for the Olympics with its 2007 FIBA Americas Championship in Valdivia, Chile, in August.

COURTNEY PARIS' USA BASKETBALL STATISTICS
TEAM	G/S	FGM-FGA	PCT	3PM-3PA	PCT	FTM-FTA	PCT	REB/AVG	PTS/AVG	AST	BLK	STL
2007 WTOA	5/ 0	5- 10	.500	0- 0	.---	2- 4	.500	12/ 2.4	12/ 2.4	2	1	2
2007 U21	8/ 7	39- 70	.557	0- 0	.---	9- 15	.600	64/ 8.0	87/ 10.9	9	3	6
2007 ITLX	4/ 0	8- 15	.533	0- 0	.---	2- 2	1.000	14/ 3.5	18/ 4.5	3	3	2
2007 U21X	3/ 3	10- 22	.455	0- 0	.---	6- 11	.545	26/ 8.7	26/ 8.7	4	2	4
2007 WNT	6/ 0	12- 19	.632	0- 0	.---	6- 8	.750	17/ 2.8	30/ 5.0	6	4	2
2006 U20	5/ 5	30- 51	.588	0- 1	.000	11- 21	.524	40/ 8.0	71/ 14.2	6	1	2
2005 U19	8/ 0	45- 68	.662	0- 1	.000	7- 22	.318	56/ 7.0	97/ 12.1	8	4	10
2005 U19X	2/ 0	8- 15	.533	0- 0	.---	0- 3	.000	14/ 7.0	16/ 8.0	3	0	2
2005 ISI	4/ 0	21- 36	.583	0- 1	.000	6- 17	.353	33/ 8.3	48/ 12.0	1	4	3
2004 JWCQ	5/ 5	35- 51	.686	0- 0	.---	9- 20	.450	45/ 9.0	79/ 15.8	13	3	1
2004 DF-W	5/ 2	30- 58	.517	0- 2	.000	16- 26	.615	58/ 11.6	76/ 15.2	5	6	7
Totals	55/22	243- 415	.586	0- 5	.000	74- 149	.497	379/ 6.9	560/ 10.2	60	31	41