WomeMinnesota junior Liz Podominick has been selected to the Big Ten team that will participate in the 2005 Women’s Basketball Foreign Tour. The squad departs on Sunday, July 17 and will play five games over 11 days while touring Belgium and the Netherlands.

Podominick played in 28 games in 2004-05 and averaged 6.3 points and 3.7 rebounds. The 6-2 post player was the Gophers’ third-leading scorer during the 2005 NCAA Tournament, contributing 8.0 points in over 15 minutes per game. A two-sport standout at Minnesota, Podominick also won the 2005 outdoor track titles in the shot put and discus and advanced to the NCAA Championships in both events.

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 will then 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 and 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, which included Minnesota’s Kelly Roysland, 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.

2005 Big Ten Women’s Basketball Foreign Tour Team
Danyel Crutcher (Illinois, F, 6-2, So.)
Cyndi Valentin (Indiana, G, 5-8, Sr.)
Crystal Smith (Iowa, G, 5-6, Sr.)
Katrina Grantham (Michigan State, C, 6-1, Jr.)
Victoria Lucas-Perry (Michigan State, G, 5-9, Jr.)
Liz Podominick (Minnesota, F/C, 6-2, Jr.)
Ifeoma Okonkwo (Northwestern, F, 5-10, Sr.)
Stephanie Blanton (Ohio State, F, 5-11, Jr.(
Kamela Gissendanner (Penn State, G, 6-1, Jr.)
Adrienne Squire (Penn State, G, 6-0, So.)
Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton (Purdue, F, 6-2, So.)
Janese Banks (Wisconsin, G, 5-10, So.)
Coach: Rene Portland (Penn State)