By Shehan Jeyarajah
Sports Editor
USA Basketball announced Tuesday night that former Baylor women’s basketball stars Brittney Griner and Odyssey Sims made the final cut for the USA World Championship team roster.
Baylor is one of only two collegiate teams to have multiple representatives on the national team, along with Connecticut.
Before Griner and Sims were drafted by the Phoenix Mercury and Tulsa Shock respectively, they were teammates for three years under head coach Kim Mulkey. The duo had their best season in 2012, when the Lady Bears won the 2012 national championship with a 40-0 record, one of the greatest seasons in women’s basketball history.
“Brittney Griner is going to get here, and this will be her first time through,” Team USA head coach Geno Auriemma said. “Odyssey Sims’ first time too. [There’s] a lot of new faces. I know our coaching staff has our work cut out for us, and we are excited to finally get the team together and get started.”
The 2014 women’s FIBA World Championship take place between Saturday and Oct. 5 in Ankara and Istanbul, Turkey. Team USA opens the World Championships at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday against China at Abdi Ipekci Arena in Istanbul.
