Women's Hoops Guru

By Mel Greenberg

Sylvia Fowles' "monster" game led the United States into the victory column Sunday with a 92-60 victory over Cuba in the Good Luck Beijing Tournament in China.

Full details are over at the USA Basketball site, but, essentially, the former LSU star and second overall WNBA draft pick of the Chicago Sky towered over the Cubans with 25 points, 18 rebounds and six blocked shots.

Fowles had not played much in the opening loss to Australia, Saturday, because of foul trouble.

The Detroit Shock's Katie Smith added 19 points, while new Seattle Storm player Swin Cash, an Olympic veteran as is Smith, scored 12 points. The United States also got 10 points each from Los Angeles Sparks and Olympics veteran Lisa Leslie, along with former Maryland star Crystal Langhorne, the sixth overall WNBA pick by the Washington Mystics.

Cuba and the United States are each 1-1.

By the time most of you are reading this, the USA squad will have played South Korea in a game that was scheduled to tip off at 2:30 a..m., early Monday morning, EDT.

"I'm really pleased with how we came out today, we started the game really well," said USA head coach Anne Donovan. "It was our focus to start the game very strong and aggressive. We felt like we needed to come right at Cuba and attack them early and we executed that game plan very well.

"I think Sylvia was extra motivated today since she wasn't on the floor very much yesterday due to foul trouble. She came out and had a monster game and Lisa (Leslie) came out and took a smaller role today. It's nice to see the versatility of our players."

Fowles said she was "more focused" in her second outing.

The squad is a youthful group with such Olympic favorites to make the team as Phoenix's Diana Taurasi and potentially Cappie Pondexter, not on the trip. The Los Angeles Sparks' overall top pick Candace Parker of the Tennessee two-time defending NCAA champs is also away from China.

After South Korea, the U.S. takes a day off in preliminary action before meeting New Zealand on Wednesday (10:15 a.m. EDT) and hot China China on Thursday (8:00 a.m. EDT).

Connecticut double: The Guru is taking a quickie trip North on Monday and Tuesday to drop by the WNBA Connecticut Sun's Media Day followed by a visit to UConn for women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma's wrap-up media session.

Besides the array of players with UConn backgrounds who are in camp such as Barbara Turner, rookie Ketia Swanier, and Tanika (nee Williams) Raymond, two former Big Five players will be in Sun camp. One is former Temple star Kamesha Hairston, who was a first-round draft pick a year ago. The other is Villanova departing senior Stacie Witman, who has been signed as a practice player.

Head coach Mike Thibault, an assistant on the USA national squad under Donovan, is stateside and will be at the Connecticut College facility Monday.

-- Mel

By Mel Greenberg

The USA Women's National Team Good Luck Beijing Tournament roster illustrates how quickly things change when it comes to local identification.

Candice Wiggins -- Stanford is now transformed to Candice Wiggins -- Minnesota Lynx in the primary affilation column.

Sylvia Fowles -- Louisiana State is now Sylvia Fowles -- Chicago Sky

And although new WNBA team identifications have severed the longtime court togetherness of Crystal Langhorne of Willingboro and Laura Harper of Cheltenham, dating back to their Philadelphia Belles AAU days and successful run at Maryland, the two remain on the same side this week as USA teammates for the trip to China.

Of course the two have been gold medal winners in the past on other USA squads.

But after the trip to the Olympic city for this year's summer games, the duo post tandem will be on opposing sides as soon as Monday night, May 5 when Harper debuts in Washington with the Sacramento Monarchs in a preseason game against Langhorne's new Mystics team.

And for those Rutgers fans who haven't hunted down the first former Scarlet Knights teammate confrontation of Matee Ajavon and Essence Carson, that will occur on Friday night June 6th, when Ajavon's Houston Comets squad visits Carson's New York Liberty squad at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Helen, at women's hoops, who never sleeps, apparently, has all the details of the USA trip, as does the USA basketball site.

We also were recently appreciate of Helen's advice in a Spanish restaurant in a city south of the Mason-Dixon Line that was in the news during Final Four week.

Helen noted that eating the deserts first in order of courses avoids not getting there because of the major selections on the main entree menu.

Upon further review: We tongue-in-cheek recently noted that we can no longer talk about former Colorado star Kate Fagan, who will soon join the sports department here in the home office.

But since that won't occur for another week or two, her impending arrival to the City of Brotherly Love didn't stop the Guru from using his connections to set in motion her appearance on the draft list for the heavy-duty Philadelphia Department of Recreation NCAA Summer Women's League.

No. 1 vs. No. 2 -- No, we're not talking about UConn-Tennessee, which could come up in discussion Tuesday when Huskies coach Geno Auriemma holds an end-of-season press briefing.

Rather, it's a preseason game in the WNBA -- Los Angeles at Chicago on Thursday, May 8.

The Sparks will visit with former Tennessee star Candace Parker, the No. 1 overall pick of the draft, while Chicago's Sylvia Fowles was the overall No. 2.

The last time they were on opposing sides was in the NCAA semifinal when Tennessee edged the Tigers just before regulation expired.

-- Mel

.

By Mel Greenberg

An email late Monday night popped into the Guru's in-box late Monday night from the Seattle Storm announcing a press conference Tuesday featuring Storm executive Karen Byrant and WNBA president Donna Orender.

A search a few hours later after getting up for air found our Seattle Times colleague Jayda Evans reporting that the WNBA franchise is going to local, unidentified owners.

The future of the franchise, which won the 2004 WNBA title, has been murky with the current owner having made noise about moving the team and the NBA Seattle Supersonics out of town, potentially to Oklahoma where he is from, because of an arena controversy.

But there also was much activity in the Northwest to find a way to retain the popular WNBA team.

If reports become true, Seattle would join Connecticut, the new Atlanta franchise, Washington, Chicago, Houston, and Los Angeles, as teams not affiliated with a local NBA operation. The total would become 50 percent of the current 14 franchises.

Seattle is still looking for a coach after the recent resignation of Anne Donovan, the coach of the Olympic team.

Also, top stars Sue Bird and Lauren Jackson are currently free agents, although both seem likely to remain in the Emerald City.

The Collegiate Scene

Top-ranked Connecticut and its coach Geno Auriemma made it 300 appearances in team and coaching categories in the AP poll Monday when the Huskies were an unanimous choice this week.

George Washington earned its 100th appearance.

Willingboro's Crystal Langhorne is 38 points away from breaking Maryland's all-time scoring record.

Texas is No. 15 in the AP poll, enabling the Longhorns to continue to add to its appearance stature near the top of the list, as well as continue to appearance streak of former Duke coach Gail Goestenkors.

But in the weekly wire-released Collegiate Basketball News RPI report, Texas was ranked 43rd Monday with a strength-of-schedule ranking of 183.

Speaking of Duke, the Blue Devils will retire recently-graduated Lindsey Harding's number on Jan. 20 when North Carolina State visits.

We'll be at Villanova Tuesday night for a Big East clash in which the Pirates are riding a six-game win-streak and the Wildcats will again try to bounce from a loss -- the current one being last week's slaughter by Connecticut.

-- Mel

(Guru's Note: Jumping rope was never our forte earlier in life, but there's no one less thing to do to keep Jonathan happy in the technological operation of this blog. We figured out how to jump pages on our own when the blog edition is somewhat lengthy, which this is about to be.

So after the first topic, simply click the link below that will appear to get to the end of the column.)

By Mel Greenberg

PHILADELPHIA _ It's quickly getting to the point that the end of the regular-season rivalry between Tennessee and Connecticut is becoming better for women's basketball than the actual competition, itself.

Think about it.

If the two were still scheduled to play each other, the anticipation and hype would not accelerate until the actual date of the game was near.

One reason is the world now consists of a few more threats to the national championship than just those two teams.

But since Tennessee coach Pat Summitt determined for reasons yet to be definitely clarified to cancel the series, the media, as well as message boards, has continued to debate the significance as well as the cause.

In early September, Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma said he would not have anything further to say until after the season and has told questioners to go chase Summitt.

Yet, last week at Big East Media Day in New York City, Auriemma was surrounded by reporters, of which some, not having access over the summer, quickly addressed the Tennessee-Connecticut breakup.

If anything new in his response, Auriemma noted the series was always good as a measuring stick of letting the coaches know where their teams stood in terms of the ultimate title chase.

He mentioned the attention, the increased media interviews, all of which occurs at the Women's Final Four.

Thus, if either or both teams held their poise in the lead-up and execution of the game, it bode well for March.

However, with a bunch of teams in the hunt this season, there are a number of games that could cause the same effect, depending on the records and rankings at the time of the matchup.

It seems that several years ago, the 1-2 Duke-Connecticut game had quite a bit of buildup as did the intra-Atlantic Coast Conference 1-2 showdown between Duke and North Carolina, when both were unbeaten.

Certainly, the Rutgers-Connecticut rivalry in the Big East, considering potential, and market location, could be just as big, especially with at least three potential matchups, besides one that could occur in the NCAA tournament.

Speaking of Rutgers, the other crowded interview table involved Hall of Fame coach C. Vivian Stringer and her players.

Stringer quickly tried to put a stop to further questions about last April's controversy that arose a day after the Scarlet Knights lost to Tennessee in the NCAA championship.

That's when national radio talk show host Don Imus made racial and sexual remarks about the Rutgers players that ultimately resulted in his firing and also enhanced the reputation of Stringer's team over the way they handled themselves in a nationally-televised press conference reacting to the Imus remarks.

Now, Stringer says, it's time to just talk about basketball.

Unfortunately, off the court at times the Rutgers program seems to appear like one of those whack-a-mole games at carnivals in which whenever the participant nails a mole back into their habitat, another pops up elsewhere.

Less than 24 hours after Stringer's remarks in New York, a new flap arose, although this one appeared to be nipped quickly in the bud.

ESPN had been preparing a piece on the recent sexual harrassment case involving New York Knicks' coach Isiah Thomas and former team employee Anucha Brown (Sanders), of which a jury in Manhattan ruled in her favor.

Stringer had been shown an edited acount of Thomas' deposition on tape in which he had said that there was a difference to a black man calling a black woman "bitch" than a white man making the same characterization.

The Hall of Fame coach took exception to his distinction and, to save space, you can read further details in their entirety at ESPN.com.

Then on Friday night, Thomas after an NBA game was asked about her reaction and Thomas claimed Stringer did not have the total context of his statement.

"It's easy to get what I said," ESPN.com quoted Thomas. "So don't speak out of ignorance, get the facts about what I said and not the portion that was taken out of context."

On Saturday, ESPN and Newsday reported Stringer and Thomas had spoken to each other and that Stringer apologized. "I responded to a question of which I had partial information and was not aware of the full text of Mr. Thomas' statement.

On a more positive note, last week Stringer was among a group of prominent women's basketball coaches named to a larger 100 most influential educators named by the Institute for International Sport.

The other women's basketball coaches are former Texas coach Jody Conradt, North Carolina State's Kay Yow, Tennessee's Pat Summitt, and Temple's Dawn Staley.

Now click the next line to "jump" to the rest of the blog.

(Guru's Note: To those arriving here from Womhoops Guru, you made it and for those who are wondering what on earth is the Guru talking about, just click the same link.)

By Mel Greenberg

UNCASVILLE, Conn. - For those who thought they'd never ever see any women's basketball player with current or past affilations with the University of Tennessee, junior Candace Parker broke ground Wednesday night when she was introduced as part of the lineup for the USA Basketball Senior National Women's Team against Australia at the Mohegan Sun Arena -- the home of the WNBA's Connecticut Sun.

Parker then dominated with 23 points and USA completed a two-game sweep of the exhibition series with a 70-66 victory.

"We know who to cheer for and when as long as they aren't wearing Orange," jested Swin Cash, the former UConn and current WNBA Detroit star who quickly arrived here to catch up with the USA group. On Sunday, unlike a year ago, Cash was on the losing side as the Phoenix Mercury completed a comeback from a 2-1 deficit to take the best-of-five WNBA championship series in Auburn Hills, Mich.

With the media contingent known as the horde in abundance, much coverage of Wednesday's action exists around the internet. This is about someone who couldn't make it to the house but will catch up with the USA in Chile as they attempt to win the FIBA Americas Tournament and an automatic berth in next summer's Olympcis in Bejing, China.

That would be former Rutgers star Cappie Pondexter, he No. 2 overall pick by Phoenix in the 2006 draft who went on to become the MVP of the finals as the Mercury toppled the former champion Shock.

Temple coach Dawn Staley, who retiired from the WNBA last summer after an All-Star career and also earned three Olympic gold medals, was asked if she had seen Pondexter during the playoffs.

Three years ago, the native of Chicago ruined Temple's attempt to get to the Owls' arena in Philadelphia for the NCAA regional semifinals and last summer Staley, a prolific point guard for the Houston Comets, had to play opposite Pondexter in the Western Conference.

"Cappie's ready," Staley said Wednesday night of Pondexter's worth to the top level of USA Basketball competition."She's been chomping at the bit to be a part of USA Basketball.

Staley is now an assistant coach on the USA squad to Anne Donovan of the WNBA's Seattle Storm.

``She's a young player, a hungry player. You can see her passion through her play everytime she steps on the floor," Staley continued. "I mean, my hat goes off to her. She didn't win a national championship but a WNBA championship is a pretty good consolation.

"She deserved it," Staley said of gaining a title and becoming MVP. "She had some incredible moments for the Mercury. It probably couldn't happen to a better person because she attacks the game. She plays with such passion, you want her to win."

-- Mel

(Guru’s Note: Kathleen Radebaugh is a senior at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia and sportswriter for The Hawk campus publication who previously has written back on the original Womhoops Guru blog reports from the WNBA All-Star game in Washington and the Washington Mystics.)

By Kathleen Radebaugh

TRENTON, N.J. _ Chemicals from one substance transform into another. They meet, bond, and react. Thousands of thousands of different types of chemical reactions occur in the body and are vital to its structure and function.

Watch a women’s basketball game. It is chemistry personified. One will see the thousands of thousands different reactions and transformations players and coaches endure for the win.

In a Sunday afternoon exhibition game, USA Women’s Senior National Team defeated Australia Senior National, 96-64, here at the Sovereign Bank Arena here. Three elements that enabled USA’s crushing win were veterans off of the bench tallying 20 points, young collegiate blood hitting second half three’s, and a full court press forcing turnovers. With elements like these reacting with a talented coaching staff, someone somewhere should be shouting “Eureka.”

Tina Thompson’s chemical reaction was in waiting. Joining the training camp just two days ago, Thompson, starting forward for the Houston Comets (averaging 18.8 ppg), subbed at the top of the second quarter for USA and immediately completed a three-pointer increasing the lead, 21-8.

“Once you step back into the environment, everything just flows,” Thompson said. “It is a different mindset coming in and playing here because you have to be ready at all times. A lot of us on our individual (WNBA and college) teams start the game so you are mentally ready and focused. When you are on the bench, you have to watch the tempo of the game and see how things are going. When you number is called, you just have to step in and make it happen.”

Thompson did not hesitate in her drives to the basket and showed her quickness within the paint with her jump shots and feet work. Thompson finished the afternoon with 21 points.

“We have had short numbers of people, but our intensity has been good since training camp,” said Anne Donovan, head coach for USA Women’s Senior National Team and the WNBA’s Seattle Storm. “We just got Tina and obviously it’s a nice addition to pull our offense up. We have some great kids that have been working hard since the beginning of our camp towards our gold medal agility.”

Sunday’s roster of only ten players will increase towards the end of September when the team travels to Chile for the FIBA Americas Tournament that gives the champion a slot in next summer’s Olympics in Beijing, China.

In fact, help will begin to arrive almost immediately, now that the new WNBA champion Phoenix Mercury and previous champion Detroit Shock have completed the playoffs.

The WNBA title game won by Phoenix Sunday in Detroit kept the Mercury’s Diana Taurasi and former Rutgers star Cappie Pondexter away from here. It also caused the absences of the Shock’s Swin Cash, Cheryl Ford, and Katie Smith, while Phoenix’s Penny Taylor would have otherwise been with the Australian team.

The USA squad has a total of 27 players on its roster, including eight Olympic gold medalists, five World Championship gold medalists and all 12 members of the 2006 USA World Championship Team.

The two teams, who contested for the 2004 Olympic gold medal won by USA in Athens, Greece, will meet again Wednesday night in Uncasville, Conn., at the Mohegan Sun Arena, the home of the WNBA Connecticut Sun.

This USA chemical equation would not be complete without some young, collegiate elements. Three collegiate players on the team Candice Wiggins (Stanford), Candace Parker (Tennessee), and Courtney Paris (Oklahoma) still have to register their cars for campus parking.

Wiggins, a senior for the Cardinal powerhouse in the Pac-10 conference, scored the second highest number of points (18) Sunday afternoon, completed 3-out-of-4 three-point shots, and only had one turnover. She knows if the ball will go in as soon as it leaves her hands. Her face softens and she begins to shuffle backwards down the court. Within five minutes of each other in the third quarter, Wiggins completed two three’s, stretching the lead to 29 points, 71-42.

Wiggins’ teammate, Courtney Paris, a center for the Sooners, totaled 12 points and three assists. Paris’ size and strength gives her a unique advantage in controlling the post, but she may need time adjusting to a whole new science experiment: pro-ball.

“In college it is a lot easier for me to pick my spot and go get the ball, because I am much stronger than anyone else,” said Paris, whose team is again a favorite in the Big 12 conference. “But tonight, it was a lot harder [wider paint and tougher players] so that is just something I am going to have to adjust to.”

Paris sees herself with the team in Chile, but in order to satisfy Donovan’s wants, she is going to have to rebound more offensively and defensively and keep making her free throw attempts.

With reliable veterans and fresh legs working and reacting together, team USA tested their endurance by starting full court pressure predominately in the beginning of the third quarter.

Australia totaled 28 turnovers and finished the game with a 39.7% field goal percentage. Wiggins led with four steals followed by Parker of the defending NCAA champs and former Tennessee star Kara Lawson of the Sacramento Monarchs tying with three steals apiece. Full court pressure drastically changed the tempo and intensity of the game because Australia in the third quarter started to fight back harder.

USA finished the night with 20 turnovers. Australian guard Jenni Screen’s three pointer brought her team within 12 points of USA in the top of the third quarter and Paris found herself in foul trouble. Jessica Davenport, center for New York Liberty, stepped in and guarded the post, forcing Australia out of the equation.

“I brought in energy and was a presence in the post to help out my teammates,” said Davenport. “Every time I come to a training camp, it gets better and better. We play against each other during the season and now you come in and get to play with each other as a team and that helps a lot.”

Throughout training camp, there is a clear focus as to keeping this chemical reaction as strong as possible.

“No matter how many points you are up, no matter how many points you win by, we want to be almost perfect, if that is possible,” said Thompson. “When you have turnovers like that, it bothers you a lot. It is just one of those things that happens, but you onto the next game with the same focus and try not to make those same mistakes.”

For them, their favorite element is Au. For those of you who have forgotten your science lessons, Au is the chemical symbol for Gold.

By Mel Greenberg

PHILADELPHIA _ The Guru had a chance to stop by Temple, located up the street from the home office, aka The Inquirer, to take in the end of Friday's Senior National Women's Basketball Team workout.

There's nothing off the drills to report but one observer on the scene was Villanova coach Harry Perretta, who was impressed with the team's offensive sets. As for defense, well, remember not everyone is on board yet due to the WNBA Finals.

Temple coach Dawn Staley, an assistant to USA coach Anne Donovan, got to watch two of her assistants perform with the male practice players against the USA Women.

One was veteran USA Olympic male practice player Darius Taylor, who previously served as assistant director of competitive programs at USA Basketball in Colorado Spring, Colo.

Taylor, a bruising post player, helped develop former Temple All-American Candice Dupree and prepare her for what has become a great career launch in the WNBA.

While Taylor was working the inside attacks, another Staley assistant, Fred Chmiel, was involved in guard play. Prior to joining the Owls a year ago, Chmiel was an assistant with the former WNBA Charlotte Sting.

Among the rookie male practice players was Matt Langel, a former Penn star and ongoing assistant to Fran Dunphy who moved with his former coach to Temple from the Quakers a year ago. He also is married to former Penn guard Tara Twomey.

The practice was announced for McGonigle Hall, causing the Guru to get lost at his own alma mater. The reason is that the gym was actually in the adjoining Pearson Hall.

If Staley caused the problem, she could be excused because her campus geographical knowledge is centered across the street in the spacious Liacouras Center, where her Temple team plays.

McGonigle, which still houses the Guru in a team picture from 1969, is the former Temple athletics home, which gets occasional use when shows and dramas are booked for the Liacouras Center.

Although "Inquirer Sportswriter," "USA Women's Basketball practice," and a few other phrases were not helpful in getting the Guru onto the neighboring parking lot next to McGonigle, the words "basketball manager" and "(Former Sports Information Director) Al Shrier" did the trick.

Sunday's game against the Australian National Team will be 30 miles North in the Sovereign Bank Arena at 1 p.m. in Trenton, the state capital of New Jersey. That will be some three hours before the Detroit Shock and Phoenix Mercury play a winner take-all decisive Game 5 of the WNBA championship series in Auburn Hills, Mich.

A year ago, the Shock had to complete their series-clinching comeback in Game 5 downtown after being displaced in The Palace due to another scheduled event.

This time, of course, Phoenix is trying to come back from a 2-1 defict in the playoffs after evening things Thursday night in the desert.

Sunday's game will cause Australia's Penny Taylor of Phoenix, to miss participating for USA's opponent, while the Americans will be without Detroit's Swin Cash, Cheryl Ford, and Katie Smith, along with the Mercury's Diana Taurasi and Cappie Pondexter.

The absence of Pondexter, a former Rutgers all-timer, cost Trenton its chief local draw. The Scarlet Knights' campuses are some 25 miles to the North. However, enough other WNBA All-Stars and former Olympic gold medal winners are on hand to make the event enoyable.

The U.S. beat Australia for the Gold in Athens, Greece, in 2004, which was Staley's last performance, internationally, as a player. The two teams will also meet Wednesday at the Mohegan Sun Arena.

While the ongoing family situation continues, the Guru remains on thre sidelines from print coverage, but Kevin Tatum will do the honors for the paper Sunday. Kathleen Radebaugh was planning to write a feature for the blog. Erin Semagin Damio, fresh off her sensational coverage of the WNBA playoffs in Phoenix, will be in Casino-ville also known as Uncasville, Wednesday.

Erin will not be in Detroit due to a prior commitment and also needing to be back on her home campus in Boston at Northeastern. She does have some unpublished items to advance the next round and may also offer some travelogue photos from a drive in the actual desert surroundings of Phoenix

Brazilian Steak Sans Paparazzi

Celebrity Stalking Note: Yes that was the Guru dining early Friday night with a USA Basketball Official in Fogo de Chao, the Brazilian Steak House that opened last winter in Center City.

Located at Juniper and Chestnut near Broad St. just below City Hall, the restaurant occupies what used to be the headquarters for Caldwell Jewelers.

While carrots at the salad bar have replaced multi-carat diamonds as a delight of the clientele, the meal was, nonetheless, quite a gem.

Judging by the actions at our table, it's a wonder that there were no collisions in the aisles that are used to get to the salad bar and also bring the various steaks on skewers in Brazilian style to the patrons.

The way the system works, a red/green disc for each person at the table is used to either give a green "tongs up" signal to the waiter carrying the steak to stop by or a red "hold-off for now" notice.

Throughout the night, however, most times the wait staff ran right through the red sign, although we did not rebuff any of the serving attempts.

Motor Music

Here's a tip for you digital music lovers the Guru recently discovered while driving North from here in the land of Soft Pretzel Logic to the Mohegan Sun for a WNBA game.

When using a portable satellite unit such as Sirius or our XM Radio connection or playing an Ipod or other MP3 device through the car radio, radio frequency 88.9 FM will hold steady and not be affected by interference in the New York-New Jersey area from other commercial station. At times, 88.7 may also work.

USA Staff Slot Unaffected By Storm Turbulence in Seattle

So back in the days of last week and beyond going backwards when the Guru would begin to put words on the original womhoops blog, he noticed an ongoing debate at other boards and sites over the future of USA coach Anne Donovan as the head of the WNBA's Seattle Storm, especially if the franchise moves to Oklahoma City or elsewhere,

The ergo of those conversations was whether Donovan could be retained in charge of the Americans without a WNBA job elsewhere.

The answer is: Unless some other disruptive situation, involved with USA procedures, occurs to cause havoc to her future, Donovan will be on the sidelines in Beijing in 2008 for the Olympics no matter what happens to her relationship with the Storm.

Some had assumed one only had to hold a WNBA job to maintain an Olympic coaching position.

The reality is, according to a source at USA Basketball familiar with the rules of each "quad" period, one only had to meet the criteria at the time of his or her selection and not in the ensuing period leading to Olympic competition.

Donovan, who has already won gold as a player, has obviously satisified conditions that got her named to head the squad.

-- Mel