May 5, 2018
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - USA Basketball has announced the participants for its upcoming U18 Team Trials in Colorado Springs, Colorado and Penn State incoming freshman Karisma Ortiz (San Jose, Calif.) is among the invitees to vie for a spot on the squad that will compete at the 2018 FIBA Americas U18 Championship.
The team trials will take place May 26-28 at the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, as the 36 invitees will compete for a spot on the 12-member squad that will take part in the FIBA Americas Championship.
Ortiz led Archbishop Mitty to the top of the USA Today Super 25 poll for 12 of the final 13 weeks of the regular season. The do-it-all guard averaged 15 points, nine rebounds and six assists during her senior year, helping AMHS to victories over four national top-25 teams.
In her final prep campaign, Ortiz was nominated for the McDonald's All-America Game, earned Central Coast Section Senior of the Year and garnered second-team USA Today All-California. She was also tabbed as a first-team performer by the San Francisco Chronicle and Mercury News.
Ortiz marks the second incoming Lady Lion with USA Basketball experience, as Bexley Wallace (Pickerington, Ohio) was a member of the 2015 USA Basketball U16 National Team and won a bronze medal at the 2015 FIBA Americas U16 Championship.
This past summer, Penn State rising senior Teniya Page (Chicago, Ill.) took part in the USA Basketball U23 Team Trials, her third trip to a USA Basketball event after traveling to Colorado Springs in 2013 and 2014. Penn State's Amari Carter joined Page in the 2013 and 2014 events, competing for spots on the organization's U16 and U17 squads.
In Penn State's history, Ortiz is just the third student-athlete to arrive on campus from the west coast, joining Lady Lion alums Candice Agee and Gizelle Studevent, both whom ventured to the University Park campus from the Golden State, as well.