N & O on Gail and USA b-ball

The News and Observer, on the other hand covers Gail and the U-19 team.

Herald Sun on Summer Activities

The Durham Herald-Sun has an article up about what the girls are doing for the summer: Lindsay's at an internship for CBS, Mistie's working for Duke's sports information office, and will be going to Pete Newell's Tall Woman camp, and most of the rest of the team are on campus working out and bonding.

Interestingly, it doesn't mention anything about the US basketball team players and coaches from Duke...

Gail named to WBCA board

Gail Goestenkors has been named to the WBCA Board of Directors. The Women's Basketball Coaches Association was founded to help promote and support the development of women's basketball.

Mistie and the lake...

Mistie Williams will be keeping a diary for goDuke.com, and her first entry is up. She thought we fans wouldn't mind if she started early!

Alana in the All-Star game?

Alana Beard and the Mystics return to action tonight after a week off.

Alana is second in All-Star voting for guards in the East, but she's right behind Becky Hammon of New York, and Lindsay Whalen is in hot pursuit. Fans can vote once a day, so all you Duke fans, get out and support your girl!

Caitlin Howe retires

After six surgeries and three ACL tears, Caitlin Howe is calling it quits. She will stay on at Duke on scholarship for her senior year and be a volunteer assistant coach while she tries to decide between a career in coaching and medical school.

We'll miss her as a player, but this is clearly what's best for her health. And, she gets to learn coaching from Gail!

Final cuts for the U19 team

USA basketball has announced the U19 final roster. Congratulations to Abby Waner and the rest of the finalists.

US U19s take Gold

The US beat Australia, 73-57 in the Gold Medal match of the International Sports Invitational. Now they take a little time off before regrouping in late June to prepare for the FIBA U19 World Championship tournament in Tunisia, July 15-24.

Abby Waner continued to have trouble with her stroke, only shooting 2-7 for 5 points with 2 assists and 2 steals.

USA beats China, heads to Gold medal game

The US team is now 3-0 after defeating China 88-50. Abby Waner had an off shooting night, only shooting 1-6 and 0-3 from three. She had 1 assist and 2 rebounds as well.

They next face Russia in the Gold Medal game today at 6pm Pacific Time.

U19s defeat Australia, 82-74

The US team won again, this time behind the hot hand of Crystal Langhorne (9-9 for 21 points). Abby Waner did not start this game, and shot 2-4 for 6 points with 1 rebound and 2 assists.

It looks like Gail is switching around her lineups to give everyone a chance to play: this time only one player had more than 20 minutes and almost everyone played at least 10 minutes. She also started three of the players with the fewest minutes last game.

U19s roll

The US U19 team began competition yesterday in the International Sports Invitational in San Diego. Coached by Duke's own Gail Goestenkors, the US team soundly defeated Russia 89-69.

Abby Waner started but only scored 3 points on 1-3 shooting. She did hand out 5 assists, and had 1 steal and 1 rebound in 21 minutes.

Roster up at goDuke

Next year's roster has been posted over at goDuke.com. Of interest, Caitlin Howe is not listed despite her remaining eligibility. There has been no official announcement yet, but after her many knee operations, it's not surprising that she would not be back. She may have already graduated, since it is believed that she was on a three-year track. Hopefully we will see her on the sidelines in a student-coaching role.

Alana's first game of the season

The Mystics won for the first time at home, beating Minnesota 74-71.

She started off the first half slow, missing on some free throws and trying a little too hard. She ended the first half with 8 points. The second half started off better for her, with a couple of baskets early, but then got in a little foul trouble, and was out for a chunk of time during the second half. She ended with 14 points, 3 rebounds, a steal, and 2 assists.

Temeka Johnson had another solid game, with 12 points and 10 assists.

Alana still out?

Alana's ankle is still apparently bothering her, as the Mystics prepare to host the Liberty.

Beard also missed time during training camp with a hamstring injury and has been frustrated by the sudden onslaught of bad luck after a mostly injury-free college career at Duke.

"I broke my right thumb when I was a freshman, but that wasn't as bad because I still had my legs and I could still do something," Beard said. "To sit around and do nothing has been very frustrating, but I guess that's just God teaching me patience. That's something I haven't had before and I'm learning it now."

She is likely not cleared to play until Friday against Minnesota...