Ruth Hamblin With Team Canada For International Exhibitions
May 28, 2013
CORVALLIS, Ore. - Oregon State women's basketball center Ruth Hamblin will travel to Europe for a three-country exhibition tour with the Canadian Senior Women's National Team. Hamblin, a rising sophomore, was part of a group of 29 players at a tryout camp held at McMaster University in Edmonton, Ontario from May 17-19 and was one of 14 selected to make the trip to Europe.
"It is a huge honor to play for Team Canada," Hamblin said. "Competing with and against some of the best players in the world is something that can't be replicated. It's humbling to be even invited to the tryout, let alone put the jersey on and take the court. This experience is going to help me take my game to the next level. The speed, precision and physicality are something I'm still adapting to, but I'm excited to embrace the challenge."
Team Canada will begin its series of exhibition games with a pair against the Czech Republic in Prague on Tuesday and Wednesday. From there, the team will travel to Belgrade, Serbia for an exhibition tournament from May 31-June 2 against Serbia, Italy and Montenegro. Team Canada finishes the European leg of its exhibition schedule with a tournament in Paris, France from June 7-9, featuring squads from France, Spain and Turkey.
Hamblin is trying to earn a spot on the team that will represent Canada at the FIBA Americas Championships, held from September 21-28 in Xalapa, Mexico. That roster will be announced later this summer. The rosters for a July exhibition trip to China and an August tournament in Brazil will also both be released at a later date.
The 6-foot-6 Hamblin, a native of Houston, British Columbia, is the second Oregon State women's basketball player in as many years to suit up for her country's senior national team. Last summer, OSU alumna Kim Butler (2005-06) competed for Great Britain in the 2012 London Olympics.
Hamblin was a key cog in an Oregon State freshman class that scored 821 of the team's 1,776 points (46.2 percent) in 2012-13, the highest ratio in the Pac-12. She averaged 4.4 points and 2.9 rebounds per game and converted on 50 percent of her attempts from the floor (52-of-104). The center also recorded 32 blocks on the season, second on the team and the third-most in Oregon State freshman history.
She has some familiarity representing her country in international competition and was a member of the Junior National Team that finished fourth at the FIBA Americas U18 Championships in Guarbo, Puerto Rico in August 2012, earning the Canadians a berth at the FIBA U19 World Championship for Women in Lithuania this July.
Game reports and summaries of Team Canada's progress during this stretch abroad can be found at http://www.basketball.ca/.
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