Grandview High School senior-to-be Lauren Betts and the U.S. U19 women’s basketball team is set to begin play in the 2021 FIBA U19 Women’s World Cup tournament in Hungary.
The Americans ended up in a four-team pool that also includes Italy, Australia and Egypt and they will all play each other to determine seeding for the next round. A total of 16 countries have qualified for the Aug. 7-19 tournament, which will be held in Debrecen.
The U.S. begins with a matchup with Italy on Aug. 7, meets Australia the next day and faces Egypt Aug. 10. The round of 16 elimination round begins Aug. 11, followed by quarterfinals Aug. 13, semifinals Aug. 14 and gold and bronze medal matches Aug. 15.
Betts, a 6-foot-7 center who has verbally committed to Stanford University, is the second-youngest player on the U19 team roster at 17, as she is a week older than guard Sonia Citron. Citron and Betts also played together on the USA U16 National Team that won the FIBA Americas U16 championship tournament in 2019 in Puerto Ayres, Chile. During the US’s 6-0 run, Betts averaged 12.2 points, 13.5 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game.
The U.S. team — which is coached by UCLA’s Cori Close — went through a training camp in Washington D.C. July 21-27, where the final roster was selected. Betts was among nine players that had already made the team after tryouts in May in Colorado Springs, while the remaining three spots were determined at the training camp.
The Americans have tradition to uphold in the U19 FIBA World Cup, as they have won seven of the eight gold medals at the event since 2005 with a 62-3 in that span. The event began in 1985 and the U.S. team owns an 86-13 all-time record in it, which includes eight gold medals, a silver and a bronze.
Courtney Oakes is Sentinel Colorado Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
