Aug. 9, 2007 — The V.I. women’s national basketball team headed out Thursday to compete in the Caribbean Basketball Championships in Morovis, Puerto Rico, beginning Friday.
The team has practiced under the watchful eye of head coach Geneva Morgan for the past two weeks is ready to win some hardware in the tourney.
"In my five years of coaching various Virgin Islands national teams, this is the first time that almost all of the ladies have collegiate basketball experience,” said Head Coach Geneva Mornan.
The team returns the nucleus of veterans Tombi Bell, Shaquana Wilkins, Lynn Liburd, Raenille DeCastro-Cain, Damarah Rhymer, Zena Lawrence, Julie Flanders, Bianca Larsen and Lauren Larsen. They helped the Virgin Islands to the silver medal last summer in the CBC tourney held in Jamaica.
Bell, Rhymer and Larsen will control the game at the point position. Liburd, Decastro-Cain, Lawrence and Larsen play on the wings, allowing Wilkins and Flanders to control the paint.
Bell is the team's leading retuning scorer with 15 points per outing. She is followed closely by Wilkins, who dropped in 14.8 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. Liburd was Ms. Do Everything as she tossed in 8.5 points and seven rebounds.
The team got new energy with the additions of Yanique Javois, Stacy Griffith and Janelle Sarauw.
Javois, a senior at Missouri Western, brings a new element to the team, a slasher who can also stroke it from three-point range. She is also a defensive menace, named to the Mid American conference’s all-defensive team.
Griffith, a 6-foot power forward, will attend Virginia Commonwealth University. Last season at Riverbend High School, Griffith averaged 12.4 points, 7.6 rebounds, 3.1 steals and one block per game while shooting 52 percent from the field for the Bears. In addition, Griffith poured in 15.7 points per game in three state tournament contests, leading Riverbend to the Group AA quarterfinals.
Sarauw, of Florida Atlantic, is expected to use her leaping ability as well as her speed to frustrate opponents.
The Virgin Islands have been placed in Group A with the Bahamas, Dominican Republic and Trinidad and Tobago. Group B will have Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, Guyana and Puerto Rico. The top two teams from each group will advance to the medal round. There will be four daily games all five days of competition, including the gold medal and bronze medal games on the final day.
The Jamaica women won the last edition of the CBC Tournament.
The roster of players and coaches for the V.I. Women's Basketball National Team:
Guard: Tombi Bell, Florida University
Forward/Center: Shaquana Wilkins, Miami University
Guard: Damarah Rhymer, American University
Guard: Yanique Javois, Missouri Western
Forward: Zena Lawrence, Troy University
Forward: Raenielle DeCastro-Cain, St. Anselm
Forward: Lynn Liburd, Benedict
Center: Julie Flanders, George Mason
Forward: Stacy Griffith, Virginia Commonwealth
Forward: Janelle Sarauw, Florida Atlantic
Guard: Lauren Larsen, Coker College
Guard: Bianca Larsen, Coker College
Head Coach: Geneva Morgan, University of Miami
Asst. Coach: Myron Corbett, Charlotte Amalie
Asst. Coach: Stephanie Williams, Central High
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