Coleman, USA Women's Basketball Team Set for Pan Am Games
7/17/2007 8:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
July 17, 2007
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - After spending more than a week in Washington, D.C., practicing, Maryland's Marissa Coleman and the USA Women's Basketball Pan American team departed for Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Monday afternoon for the 2007 Pan American Games. The women's basketball team begins its hunt for a gold medal on Friday, July 20.
A rising junior, Marissa Coleman (Cheltenham, Md./St. John's College [D.C.]) will be looking to win the third gold medal of her career with USA Basketball. She won gold at the FIBA U19 World Championship and the International Sports Invitational in 2005, and also claimed gold at the 2004 FIBA Americas U18 Championship.
Coleman, a two-time All-ACC performer at Maryland, helped the 2006-07 Terrapins reach the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the fourth-consecutive year, posting a 28-6 record, the team's third-straight 20-win season. Coleman was the team's second leading scorer and rebounder, averaging 13.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game.
Placed in Group B, the United States tips off the Pan American Games against Columbia on July 20. It faces Argentina on July 21 and Cuba, who won the 2003 Games, on July 22. The semifinals are scheduled for Monday, July 23 and the medals will be decided on Tuesday, July 24.
Group A includes host country Brazil, Canada, Jamaica and Mexico.
The Games began in 1955 and have been contested every four years, except for 1995. In the history of the event, the U.S. has placed no lower than third, winning gold six times. The Americans captured the silver medal four times and the bronze twice.
For more information on the USA Basketball Pan American team, visit www.usabasketball.com. For information on the 2007 Pan American Games, log onto www.rio2007.org.br.
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