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Sept. 3, 2006
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia women’s basketball junior Aisha Mohammed (Lagos, Nigeria) has been named one of 16 players that will compete for the Nigerian National Team at the FIBA World Championship in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Sept. 12-23. Kevin Cook, an assistant coach with the WNBA’s Houston Comets, will coach the Team Nigeria.
“We are very proud that Aisha has an opportunity to represent her country,” UVa head coach Debbie Ryan said. “She’ll be an asset as the team goes for the World Championship.”
Mohammed earned All-America honors as a sophomore at Central Arizona College last season. One of the top junior college players in the nation, Mohammed will begin her Cavalier career this fall. A 6-3 left-handed center, Mohammed averaged 22 points, 11 rebounds while shooting 70 percent from the field Named the national tournament MVP, Mohammed helped defending national champion Central Arizona to a perfect 28-0 record in the regular season and No. 1 NJCAA national ranking. The squad advanced to the 2006 national semifinals. Mohammed was named a first-team Kodak/WBCA All-American in 2006.
In international play, Mohammed played for Nigeria in the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece. In the game for 12th place, Mohammed had 13 boards and eight points in the win over Korea. With the victory, Nigeria became the first team from Africa to win an Olympic game.
The15th FIBA World Championship format will feature a round-robin competition in preliminary round play. Team Nigeria is slated to take on the United States, Japan, Germany, and China. The top three teams from each preliminary group advance to form two second round groups consisting of six teams each. Each team’s results against advancing teams from its preliminary group carries over to the second round standings, and each team will play the other three teams in the second round group whom they have not faced previously. The top four teams from those two groups will advance to the medal round quarterfinals. The gold and bronze medal games will be played Sept. 23.