Duke basketball, lacrosse players to represent U.S.

Fresh off a 2000 season that saw her emerge as one of the country's best freshman, Duke wing player Alana Beard will receive an opportunity this summer to prove her talent to the world. The 6-foot-1 rising sophomore, along with future Blue Devil teammates Wynter Whitley and Monique Curry, will play for the U.S. junior national team as it competes in the U.S.A. Basketball International Invitational in Washington D.C. July 4 through July 8. The three Blue Devils and their nine other teammates were chosen after four days of intensive tryouts at the U.S.A. Basketball training facility in Colorado Springs, Colo. Needless to say, Beard--who led last year's junior national team to five victories in five successive days at the 2000 COPABA Junior World Championship Qualifying Tournament in Argentina last summer--was delighted to be selected for the second consecutive year. "It's going to be another great experience," Beard said. "I'm going to use this to better my skills and my leadership. It's going to be a great experience playing with these girls and most of all playing with two of my future teammates." One of Beard's future teammates, Curry, also expressed her excitement about representing her country in the nation's capitol next month. But unlike Beard, who was nearly a lock for the team after she was named national freshman player of the year and selected to the All-America team, Curry had to impress the selection committee and coach Geno Auriemma to make the highly competitive team. "It was just a relief and it was really exciting," said