Dominique Toussaint Invited To USA U18 Team Trials

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May 9, 2016

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Incoming Virginia women’s basketball player Dominique Toussaint (Staten Island, N.Y.) has been invited to participate in the 2016 USA Basketball Women’s U18 National Team Trials that will take place May 28-30 at the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Trials will be utilized to select the 12-member roster for the 2016 USA Basketball Women’s U18 National Team. The USA will look to defend its 2014 U18 gold at the 2016 FIBA Americas U18 Championship July 13-17 in Valdivia, Chile. Athletes eligible for this team must be U.S. citizens who are 18 years old or younger (born on or after Jan. 1, 1998).

Toussaint is one of 27 athletes invited to the training camp. The 2016 Gatorade New York State Player of the Year and 2016 Miss New York Basketball previously attended the 2013 U16 and 2014 U17 trials.The 2016 USA Basketball Women’s U18 National Team will be led by Suzie McConnell-Serio (Pittsburgh) as the USA head coach and Kamie Ethridge (Northern Colorado) and Charlotte Smith (Elon) as assistant coaches.

The 2016 FIBA Americas U18 Championship for Women will be played July 13-17 in Valdivia, Chile. Not only is a gold medal at stake, the top four finishing teams will earn a qualifying berth in the 2017 FIBA U19 World Championship.

The USA was placed in preliminary round Group A with Brazil, Guatemala and Venezuela. Group B features Canada, host Chile, Mexico and Puerto Rico.

After playing each of the teams in its preliminary round group, the top two finishing teams from each group advance to the semifinals on July 16, while the bottom two teams from each group will play out for fifth-eighth places. On July 17, the semifinal winners will meet in the gold medal game, and the semifinal losers will play in the bronze medal game.

Originally known as the FIBA Americas Junior World Championship Qualifying Tournament, the event was held every four years from 1998-2004. FIBA changed its calendar following the 2004 championship, and the tournament is now conducted every other year, followed in the next summer by the FIBA U19 World Championship.

USA women’s teams boast of a remarkable 48-2 overall record in U18/Junior Qualifiers and have won gold in 1988, 2000, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2014, while capturing silver medals in 1992 and 1996.