Powers Named to USA Basketball World University Games Roster

Powers Named to USA Basketball World University Games Roster The forward is one of two Big Ten players traveling to South Korea. EAST LANSING, Michigan -

Powers Named to USA Basketball World University Games Roster

The forward is one of two Big Ten players traveling to South Korea.

EAST LANSING, Michigan - Michigan State women’s basketball player Aerial Powers (Detroit, Michigan) was named to the 2015 USA Basketball Women’s World University Games roster. The team was announced after three days of trials from a pool of 51 athletes.

The trials that were held in Colorado Springs, Colorado determined two 12-player teams, one that will play in the Pan American Games, while the other will compete in the World University Games.

“When she was announcing names for even the U19 team, my heart was starting to pound. My heart rate was going up, then when she started for our age group my stomach knotted up. It was something I had never felt before. She went through the Pan Am games; I didn’t hear my name, so I started feeling down a bit. Then she went through the World University Games. I was trying to go through it alphabetically in my mind, then I told myself to relax,” Powers said. “I heard my name, and it was like sparks were flying. It is crazy, because I didn’t feel like I had the best few days. I was up and down, but I tried my hardest to do other things if something was not working. That feeling is amazing, because you hear everyone else that has played before talk about it, even the other athletes in trials, and it inspires you. You say, ‘I wanna do that, too.’ It is a feeling I can’t explain.”

Powers had a record-setting season, breaking the MSU single-season record for points (678) and rebounds (375). Powers earned first-team All-Big Ten honors as well as being named honorable mention All-American by the Associated Press. She also became just the second Michigan State women’s basketball player to average over 20 points per game, setting the MSU record for scoring average with a 21.9 points per game average as a sophomore. She broke a 40 year-old record as Linda Stoick, averaged 20.4 during the 1975 season. Powers also led the team and was second in the Big Ten in rebounding averaging 12.1 rpg, the second-most in school history.

She and her World University Games teammates will return to Colorado Springs for training camp on June 18-July 2, before departing for the event. The 2015 World University Games women’s basketball competition will be held July 4-13 in Gwangju, South Korea.

Powers is the first Spartan women’s basketball players to represent the United States since Allyssa DeHaan helped Team USA win the gold medal at the 2007 FIBA U-19 World Championships. Head coach Suzy Merchant was also an assistant coach for the USA Basketball women’s team that won the Gold Medal at the World University Games in 2009.

Maryland’s Brionna Jones will join Powers as the only two players from the Big Ten. The Terrapins Shatori Walker-Kimbrough was named to the Pan American Games roster.

There are other Big Ten connections as Northwestern’s head coach Joe McKeown will lead the World University Games squad.

Held every other year, the World University Games is organized by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The WUGs are a multi-sport competition open to men and women who are between the ages of 17 and 24 (born between 1/1/88 and 12/31/98), who are enrolled as a full-time college student with remaining eligibility for the 2015-16 school year.

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