Indiana University Athletics
Valentin to Participate in Big Ten Foreign Tour
7/11/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
July 7, 2005
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. .-- Senior guard Cyndi Valentin has been selected to the 2005 Big Ten Women's Basketball Foreign Tour Team, the conference office announced today. Penn State head coach Rene Portland put together a squad comprised of 12 student-athletes from 10 different League schools. The tour, which runs from July 17-27, is tentatively scheduled to include five games in Belgium and the Netherlands.
"I am excited for Cyndi," Indiana head coach Sharon Versyp said. "She is a very hard worker, and should be a major contributor to the team. Anytime a student-athlete can get international experience, it is usually a positive and rewarding event."
Valentin was an Honorable Mention All-Big Ten honoree last season after leading the Hoosiers with 15.0 points per game. She ranked 12th in the conference in scoring and seventh in free throw percentage (84-102/.824). The Bloomington, Ind., native also notched her 1,000th point on Jan 20 vs. then-No. 3/4 Ohio State, becoming the 19th Hoosier in history to accomplish such a feat.
Valentin, along with Iowa senior guard Crystal Smith (16.8 ppg), will make up a bulk of the scoring on the Foreign Tour roster, as the duo are two of the top four returning scorers in the Conference. Wisconsin sophomore Janese Banks and Michigan State junior Victoria Lucas-Perry will also join Valentin and Smith in the back court. Banks ranked second in scoring for the Badgers with 10.6 ppg, while Lucas-Perry averaged 7.4 ppg on the NCAA runner-up Spartan team.
The forward position will be held up by two Big Ten All-Freshman selections in Illinois' Danyel Crutcher and Purdue's Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton. Both had solid freshman campaigns as Crutcher averaged 6.0 ppg and rpg, and Wisdom-Hylton contributed 8.7 ppg and 4.9 rpg.
Also participating in the tour is Northwestern forward Ifeoma Okonkwo, who led the Wildcats in scoring last year with 11.6 ppg and 1.6 spg, and Ohio State junior Stephanie Blanton who averaged 5.2 ppg.
Finally, the 2005 Foreign Tour Team will include a pair of Portland's own players in junior guard Kamela Gissdedanner and sophomore guard Adrienne Squire.
The first of three games against the Netherlands National Team will be played on Tuesday, July 19 in Den Helder, Netherlands. The Big Ten squad then will return to Den Helder the next day for a rematch. The Foreign Tour team will close out its three-game set on Thursday, July 21. After two days of sightseeing, with stops at the house of Anne Frank, the Gassan Diamond Factory, the Hague, as well as a few historic art museums, the Tour moves on to Belgium for a stint against the Belgium National Team in Aalst on July 23. Following a tour of the town of Brugge on Sunday, the team will travel to Brussels to prepare for a game against Luxembourg on Monday, July 25.
Last year, the Big Ten Foreign Tour squad went 4-0 in Australia, marking its second consecutive undefeated Tour. The team has gone 46-18 since the inception of the Tour in 1992, which has been held annually except for 2003.
Updated results during the tour will be available on the Big Ten website, www.bigten.org and IUHOOSIERS.com
2005 BIG TEN WOMEN'S BASKETBALL FOREIGN TOUR ROSTER
Danyel Crutcher-Illinois
Cyndi Valentin- Indiana
Crystal Smith- Iowa
Katrina Grantham-Michigan State
Victoria Lucas-Perry-Michigan State
Liz Podominick- Minnesota
Ifeoma Okonkwo- Northwestern
Stephanie Blanton- Ohio State
Kamela Gissdedanner- Penn State
Adrienne Squire- Penn State
Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton- Purdue
Janese Banks- Wisconsin
2005 BIG TEN WOMEN'S BASKETBALL FOREIGN TOUR SCHEDULE
Tuesday, July 19 vs. Netherlands National Team
Den Helder, Netherlands
7:30 p.m.
Wednesday July 20 vs. Netherlands National Team
Den Helder, Netherlands
7:30 p.m.
Thursday, July 21 vs. Netherlands National Team
Amsterdam, Netherlands
7:30 p.m.
Saturday, July 23 vs. Belgium National Team
Aalst, Belgium
8 p.m.
Monday, July 25 vs. Luxembourg
Brussels Belgium
TBA
