ORU's Luper Selected to USA Pan American Team

ORU's Luper Selected to USA Pan American Team

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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - (www.orugoldeneagles.com) Oral Roberts University and head women's basketball coach Jerry Finkbeiner are proud to announce that junior guard Kevi Luper has been selected to the 2011 USA Basketball Women's Pan American Games Team. Luper and Team USA will compete Oct. 21-25 at the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Luper, a native of Adair, Okla., is ORU's first ever Pan American Games selection. The junior is a two-time Summit League Player of the Year, a two-time Summit League Defensive Player of the Year and a 2010-11 Associated Press All-American. She averaged 23.7 points and 3.7 steals per game in 2010-11, becoming the first player in NCAA Division I player in history to lead the nation in both points and steals.

"I am honored to represent both the United States and Oral Roberts University at the Pan American Games," said Luper. "This is truly one of the highlights of my basketball career, and I hope to bring a gold medal back to Tulsa next month."

"This is huge news for our program and for the University," said Finkbeiner. "Kevi's Pan Am Games selection is a once-in-a-lifetime event for our program, and we're excited to see how it impacts her basketball career both at ORU and beyond."

Luper will join a team that includes ten other college athletes and one high school senior. Her teammates include: Breanna Stewart (Cicero-North Syracuse H.S./North Syracuse, N.Y.), a high school senior who helped the USA to a gold medal and earned a spot on the five-person all-tournament team at the 2011 FIBA U19 World Championship this past July; alongside NCAA student-athletes Shante Evans (Hofstra/West Chester, Pa.); Christine Flores (Missouri/San Antonio, Texas); Tavelyn James (Eastern Michigan/Detroit, Mich.); Emilie Johnson (UC Santa Barbara/Loomis, Calif.); Marissa Kastanek (North Carolina State/Lincoln, Neb.); Valencia McFarland (Mississippi/ Edwards, Miss.); Katelan Redmon (Gonzaga/Spokane, Wash.); Kayla Standish (Gonzaga/Ellensburg, Wash.); April Sykes (Rutgers/Starkville, Miss.); and Avery Warley (Liberty/Washington, D.C.). The player selections were made by the USA Basketball Women's National Team Player Selection Committee.

The USA, which will look to defend its 2007 Pan American Games gold medal, will be led by an experienced trio of accomplished coaches, including USA head coach Ceal Barry alongside assistant coaches Jennifer Gillom and Debbie Ryan.

"We have a great variety of players, and I think the selection committee did a tremendous job in a tough time period," Barry said. "It's tough for college players to get away, but this is a group that is versatile and talented. We'll find out once we get to Houston how we are going to fit these pieces together, and I'm looking forwarding to working with all 12 players."

The U.S. squad will open training camp on Oct. 15 with an evening practice in Houston, Texas, followed by two practices on Oct. 16 and 17, and a morning session on Oct. 18. The team will depart for Guadalajara and the 2011 Pan American Games on Oct. 18, and will have a practice on Oct. 19 and 20 before the competition starts on Oct. 21.

The 2011 USA Women's Pan American Games Team includes seven players who will graduate from college in 2012, three members of the junior class who will graduate in 2013 and one college sophomore. Stewart has one year of high school remaining before she is expected to head to the University of Connecticut in the fall of 2012, where she has verbally committed to attend.

Represented by one athlete on the USA roster are the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), Big 12 Conference, Big East Conference, Big South Conference, Big West Conference, Colonial Athletic Association (CAA), Mid-American Conference (MAC), the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and The Summit League, while the West Coast Conference (WCC) is represented by Gonzaga teammates Redmon and Standish.

For a second consecutive year, Luper was named The Summit League Player of the Year following the 2010-11 season, and Luper and Warley (Big South) each took home conference Defensive Player of the Year honors.

Listing on their all-conference first teams in 2010-11 were Evans (CAA), James (MAC), Johnson (Big West), Luper (Summit), Redmon (WCC), Standish (WCC) and Warley (Big South).

Sykes listed on the 2011 Big East All-Conference second team, while Kastanek (ACC) earned honorable mention and McFarland was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team.

Additionally, Warley and Standish were named to their conference all-tournament teams.

The draw for the 2011 Pan American Games women's basketball competition took place on June 27, and the U.S. women will play in preliminary round Group A, along with Argentina, Mexico and Puerto Rico; while Brazil, Canada, Colombia and Jamaica comprise Group B. Preliminary round play for the women's basketball competition runs Oct. 21, 22 and 23, with the semifinals on Oct. 24, and the finals on Oct. 25.

The Pan American Games are a multi-sport competition held every four years (2011, 2015, etc.) in the year preceding the Olympics. Organized by the Pan American Sports Organization (PASO), the Games are open to men and women representing countries from North, South and Central America and the Caribbean.

Overall, the USA women in Pan American Games competitions have won seven of 14 gold medals, as well as four silver and two bronze medals, compiling a 72-12 overall record.