T&T Women's basketball team departed Piarco this morning for the 2010 Centrobasket Championships which will take place in Mayagez, Puerto Rico from July 10-14. However, the team which is being sponsored by the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs, is four players short of the training squad because they did not get their visas on-time. They are expected to join the rest of the contingent on the weekend. The team will also be with-out six-four centre Patrice Edwards of Sportsworld Straker Nets because of alleged disciplinary sanctions. At last year's Centrobasket Championships Edwards averaged 12 points and seven rebounds per game.
The championships will qualify the top three teams for the 2011 FIBA-Americas Championship for Women (Pre-Olympic), the top two will qualify for the 2011 Pan-American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico. All the teams will compete at the 2011 Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games which will start on July 18 also in Puerto Rico. The team's American head-coach Ozell Wells feels that his charges will be able to create a few upsets in the tournament. "I am confident that we are going to spring a few surprises. I think we've a good group of players that would be able to match skills with the other countries," said Wells. When asked about the team's preparation Wells said: "I would have loved for us to have more time to prepare, but that is not the case and we will have to work with what we have. In this regard we might be at a disadvantage, since most of the other teams started their preparation a while ago, however, this is one of the biggest tournaments and we are going there to play."
Wells will be assisted by former WNBA player Pietra Gay, who led T&T to runners-up in the 2007 CBC tournament as captain and fifth place in last year's Centrobasket event. Gay, a former captain of LSU in the NCAA final-four said she's confident that the current group of players will make T&T proud. Two foreign based post players in Ayanna Phillip and Jonee` Billy arrived in the country on Monday and joined the team at practice in the evening at the Jean Pierre Complex. Another player, Tobago's Tiffanie Williams, a professional stand-out, who is currently in the United States will join the team in Puerto Rico. T&T is in Group B along with Guatemala, the host and St Vincent & Grenadines. T&T's opening match is against the host on Saturday.
Groups
Group A: Jamaica, Mexico, Dominican Republic and U.S. Virgin Islands.
Group B: Guatemala, Puerto Rico, St. Vincent & Grenadines and Trinidad & Tobago.
T&T's Team
Rhonda John-Davis, Rhea Cordio, Jowan Ortega
Alicia Liverpool, Ayanna Phillip, Sharmion Selmon
Jonee` Billy, Tiffanie Williams.
Ozell Wells (Head Coach), Pietra Gay (Assistant Coach), Barry Stewart (Trainer), Caroline Daniel-Smith (Team Manager).
