July 9, 2002
WACO, Texas - After surviving a cut from 33 players to 16, Baylor's Steffanie Blackmon was chosen as an alternate for the 2002 USA World Championship for Young Women Qualifying Team when the 12-member squad was announced on Tuesday.
The final 12-member U.S. squad includes: Kara Brown-Braxton (Georgia / Jackson, Mich.); Shameka Christon (Arkansas / Hot Springs, Ark.); Ebony Hoffman (Southern California / Harbor City, Calif.); Laurie Koehn (Kansas State / Hesston, Kan.); Kelly Mazzante (Penn State / Montoursville, Pa.); Amber Obaze (Louisiana Tech / Dallas, Texas ); Nicole Ohlde (Kansas State / Clay Center, Kan.); Jia Perkins (Texas Tech / Granbury, Texas ); Cappie Pondexter; Heather Schreiber (Texas / Windthorst, Texas); Stacy Stephens (Texas / Winnsboro, Texas ) and Lindsay Whalen (Minnesota / Hutchinson, Minn.).
Jaqueline Batteast (Notre Dame / South Bend, Ind.); Steffanie Blackmon (Baylor / Dallas, Texas); Vanessa Hayden (Florida / Orlando, Fla.) and Amber Jacobs (Boston College / Clarks Summit, Pa.), were named alternates and could be called upon to represent the United States in the event of an injury prior to the start of competition.
Hosted by Brazil in Ribeirao Preto July 17-21 and featuring eight teams from North, South and Central America as well as the Caribbean, the top three nations will qualify for the inaugural International Basketball Federation (FIBA) World Championship For Young Women which is scheduled to be played in Dubrovnik, Croatia in July 2003 (dates TBD).
As a freshman for Baylor last season, Blackmon appeared in 32 games ... Was the first player off the bench for the No. 7 Lady Bears ... Played behind All-American and first round WNBA draftee Danielle Crockrom ... Averaged 10.0 points and 5.2 rebounds a game ... Led the team in blocked shots with 38, ranked second on the team in rebounding and third in scoring (behind two All-Americans)... Named the team's most improved player ... Ranked No. 7 in the Big 12 in blocked shots ... Scored in double figures in 12 games ... Produced two double-doubles ... Scored a career-high 21 points against Bucknell and pulled down 12 rebounds against North Texas for a career high ... Led the Lady Bears in rebounding in six games ... Blocked three shots in a game five times ... Blocked a career-high four shots against Bucknell.
