PORTLAND, Ore. --- Portland Pilots women’s basketball player Natalie Day has been selected to play for the U.S. Virgin Islands National Team at the upcoming Centrobasket Championship for Women. Day, a wing who be a junior at UP next season, will train with the team in St. Croix before heading to the Centrobasket Championships, which are set for July 10-14 in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Day, whose mother was born and raised on the Virgin Island of St. Thomas, was a key player for the Pilots as a sophomore last season after transferring to The Bluff from Howard University. The native of Germantown, Md., was second on the team in scoring with an 11.2 per game mark, while averaging 4.3 rebounds per contest. She scored in double figures 17 times and poured in a career-high 28 points during a win at Pepperdine on Jan. 23.
“I am very excited to be playing with the U.S. Virgin Islands National Team,” said Day. “I think our team looks pretty strong and this will be a great learning experience for me.”
The eight participating countries at the Centrobasket Championships were divided into two groups of four teams each, with the U.S. Virgin Islands landing in Group A with Jamaica, Mexico and the Dominican Republic. Group B is made up of Guatemala, Puerto Rico, St. Vincent & Grenadines and Trinidad & Tobago. The two best teams per group will reach the semifinals and the third and fourth place teams go to the Reclassification Round.
The U.S. Virgin Islands is set to open play against Jamaica on Saturday, July 10 at Palacio de los Deportes.
This tournament qualifies the top three teams for the 2011 FIBA Americas Women’s Championship and two teams for the 2011 Pan-American Games. All eight teams will compete at the Central American and Caribbean Games.
Day is the second UP women’s hoops player to represent their country this summer at the international level. Incoming freshman Cassandra Brown will play for the Canadian Junior National Team at the FIBA Americas U18 Championship (June 23-27) in Colorado Springs, Colo.
