Georgia senior center Jenna Staiti will join 20 of the nation’s top collegiate athletes at the 2021 USA Basketball Women’s AmeriCup Team trials on April 18-21 in Columbia, S.C.
Invitations to the trials, which will be held at the University of South Carolina, were issued by the USA Basketball Women’s Junior National Team Committee and USA Women’s Senior National Team Committee.
Twelve athletes from the group of 20 will be chosen to compete in the 2021 AmeriCup, held June 11-19 in Puerto Rico. The AmeriCup features 10 nations from North, South and Central America as well as the Caribbean.
The list of athletes competing in the team trials include: Grace Berger (Indiana/Louisville, Ky.); Aliyah Boston (South Carolina/St. Thomas, U.S.V.I.); Jakia Brown-Turner (NC State/Oxen Hill, Md.); Rae Burrell (Tennessee/Las Vegas, Nev.); Veronica Burton (Northwestern/Newton, Mass.); Zia Cooke (South Carolina/Toledo, Ohio); Elissa Cunane (NC State/Summerfield, N.C.); Destanni Henderson (South Carolina/Fort Meyers, Fla.); Naz Hillmon (Michigan/Cleveland, Ohio); Rhyne Howard (Kentucky/Cleveland, Tenn.); Ashley Joens (Iowa State/Iowa City, Iowa); Haley Jones (Stanford/Santa Cruz, Calif.); Elizabeth Kitley (Virginia Tech/Summerfield, N.C.); Diamond Miller (Maryland/Somerset, N.J.); Ashley Owusu (Maryland/Woodbridge, Va.); Khayla Pointer (Louisiana State/Marietta, Ga.); Sedona Prince (Oregon/Liberty Hill, Texas); NaLyssa Smith (Baylor/Converse, Texas); Jenna Staiti (Georgia/Cumming, Ga.); and Hailey Van Lith (Louisville/Wenatchee, Wash.).
USA National Team head coach Dawn Staley (South Carolina) will serve as head coach of the USA AmeriCup Team, and she will be assisted by University of Arizona head coach Adia Barnes and Jennifer Rizzotti, 2021 USA National Team assistant coach.
Staiti — a senior on the 2020-21 Georgia Lady Bulldog basketball team — recently announced she is returning for one more season at UGA. The Cumming, Ga., native was named to the 2021 All-SEC Second Team and was tabbed to the SEC All-Tournament squad. Staiti finished last season as the conference’s blocked shots leader with 85 swats. Offensively, she has scored in double figures in 32 of the last 37 games.