Frankston Blues junior Steph Reid has been named in the extended Australian Opals World Cup squad.
“I’m obviously so overwhelmed by the feeling, it’s really exciting and I’m really grateful for the opportunity to be a part of it. Just excited to get to camp now and see how it goes.”
“It’s always been a goal and it’s something I’ve tried to work towards, but I didn’t know this was going to be the year that it happened. I’m really excited and I’m ahead of schedule as to where I thought I would be at the start of this year so I’m pretty grateful for that as well.”
Reid’s selection comes after her club MVP, with the Townsville Fire in recent weeks.
“I’ve been working a lot with Shannon.”
“I’ve had off-seasons and now two seasons of WNBL and I think that’s really helped me but it’s just all hard work.”
The squad includes a number of highly experienced current Australian Opals.
“It’s such a stacked and loaded squad, I’m really just excited to play and see how it all goes.”
“I’m really excited to play with Cayla and Ezi, they’re both high-quality bigs and they’re so experienced I think it’ll be really exciting to play with them.”
Basketball Australia yesterday announced that Olympic silver medalists Japan will head to Sydney next month to play three matches against the Australian Opals in the lead-up to the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup 2022.
Two games will be played at Sydney Olympic Park at the Quaycentre, the third game will be hosted regionally at the Newcastle Entertainment Centre.
The 2022 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup will be held at Sydney Olympic Park from Thursday, September 22 to Saturday, October 1.
FIBA’s flagship women’s event returns to Australia for the first time since 1994 and will see 12 powerhouse basketball nations compete in 38 games across 10 days of action, all vying for the coveted World title.
The Opals, who are automatic qualifiers alongside rivals Team USA, have medaled in five of the last six World Cups, including a gold medal in 2006.
Basketball Australia Women’s World Cup Opals Squad 2022
Rebecca Allen New York Liberty *
Zitina Aokuso Townsville Fire
Sara Blicavs Southside Flyers
Rebecca Cole Southside Flyers
Keely Froling Sydney Uni Flames
Darcee Garbin Perth Lynx
Cayla George Melbourne Boomers
Shyla Heal Sydney Uni Flames
Ezi Magbegor Melbourne Boomers/Seattle Storm*
Tess Madgen Melbourne Boomers
Anneli Maley Bendigo Spirit/ Chicago Sky*
Jade Melbourne UC Capitals/ Seattle Storm*
Lauren Nicholson Townsville Fire
Stephanie Reid Townville Fire
Maddison Rocci Southside Flyers
Alanna Smith Adelaide Lightning/Indiana Fever*
Lauren Scherf Perth Lynx
Stephanie Talbot Adelaide Lightning/Seattle Storm*
Marianna Tolo Basket Landes**
Kristy Wallace Southside Flyers/Atlanta Dream*
Sami Whitcomb Perth Lynx/New York Liberty *
*WNBA
**Europ