Six from Pac-12 at FIBA Women’s AmeriCup 2021

SAN FRANCISCO – Six current and former Pac-12 women’s basketball players are set to compete for three different national teams at FIBA Women’s AmeriCup 2021, which will be played June 11-19 in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Current undergraduates in STANFORD’s Haley Jones and OREGON’s Sedona Prince will suit up for the United States and are joined by ARIZONA head coach Adia Barnes, who is one of two U.S. assistant coaches at the AmeriCup. The Canadian roster features Wildcat guard Shaina Pellington along with a pair of Pac-12 alumnae in UCLA’s Nirra Fields ’16, a three-time All-Pac-12 performer during her days in Westwood, and OREGON STATE’s Jamie (Weisner) Scott ’16, the 2016 Pac-12 Player of the Year. Scott’s teammate with the Beavers for three seasons, Ali Gibson ’15, will play for tournament host Puerto Rico.

The top four finishing teams at the AmeriCup will advance to compete in one of four World Cup Qualifying Tournaments, in hopes of earning one of the available 12 spots for the 2022 FIBA World Cup. All games at the AmeriCup will be broadcast on ESPN+.

Jones’ sophomore season concluded with the Cardinal’s third national championship in program history, a 54-53 victory over Arizona in the first title game to feature two Pac-12 teams. She poured in 17 points in the final against the Wildcats and averaged 13.2 points and a team-high 7.4 rebounds this season.

Prince averaged 10.4 points and 3.9 rebounds per game in 2020-21, her first active season as a collegian after missing 2018-19 due to injury and sitting out 2019-20 because of NCAA transfer rules. The 6-foot-7 center helped lead Oregon to its fourth consecutive Sweet Sixteen and matched a career-high with 22 points in the Ducks' second-round win over Georgia.

Pellington played in all 27 games for Arizona last season and averaged 5.8 points. She had her best performance in the national final against the Cardinal, scoring 15 points to with season-highs of seven rebounds and three steals. A transfer from Oklahoma, Pellington played two seasons in Norman and was voted Big 12 Freshman of the Year in 2018.

A 2016 Olympian, Fields has played nearly 80 senior international games for her country and led Canada to gold at the AmeriCup in 2017 when she averaged 14.5 points and was named the tournament’s MVP. She finished her Bruin career as the fourth-leading scorer in UCLA history with 1,867 points and put up career averages of 13.9 points, 5.1 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 2.0 steals.

In addition to earning Pac-12 Player of the Year honors as a senior, Scott became Oregon State’s second WBCA All-American in 2016 following a season in which she averaged 17.3 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists and shot better than 44 percent from deep. The guard finished her career with 1,777 points, the seventh-best total in school history, and 253 made 3-pointers, good for third in the Beaver record book.

Gibson started all 131 games the Beavers played during her career, which culminated with a Pac-12 title as a senior, the first of three in a row for OSU. She amassed 1,262 points in Corvallis, good for 12th in school history, and knocked down 178 3-pointers, tied for fifth among Beavers all-time.

In the last AmeriCup in 2019, the United States beat Canada, 67-46, for gold, besting a Canadian roster which featured Pac-12 alumnae Quinn Dornstauder (ARIZONA STATE), Kim Gaucher [Smith] (UTAH), Ruth Hamblin (OREGON STATE) and Scott. Gibson also played for Puerto Rico, which finished fourth.

AmeriCup Schedule (United States, Canada and Puerto Rico)

June 11
6:10 p.m. PT // Puerto Rico vs. Venezuela // WATCH

June 12
9:10 a.m. PT // Canada vs. U.S. Virgin Islands // WATCH
3:10 p.m. PT // United States vs. Dominican Republic // WATCH
6:10 p.m. PT // Puerto Rico vs. Argentina // WATCH

June 13
12:10 p.m. PT // Canada vs. Brazil // WATCH
6:10 p.m. PT // United States vs. Puerto Rico // WATCH

June 14
9:10 a.m. PT // Canada vs. El Salvador // WATCH
3:10 p.m. PT // United States vs. Venezuela // WATCH
6:10 p.m. PT // Puerto Rico vs. Dominican Republic // WATCH

June 15
12:10 p.m. PT // Canada vs. Colombia // WATCH
6:10 p.m. PT // United States vs. Argentina // WATCH

June 17-19
Knockout Rounds