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Natalie Burton Reaches Rio
July 12, 2016 09:51 AM | Women's Basketball
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - West Virginia University alumna Natalie Burton was named to the 2016 Jayco Australian Opals roster for the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, as announced by Basketball Australia in Gold Coast, Australia, on Tuesday.
Burton, a 2012 WVU graduate, earned her first Olympic trip after participating with the Opals national team since 2013. She was a part of Australia’s 2015 FIBA Oceania Championship team that defeated New Zealand to punch a ticket to Rio. In the latest FIBA world rankings, Australia ranks second globally behind Team USA.
Recently, Burton completed her first season with her hometown club, the Perth Lynx, in the Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL). Burton averaged 5.9 points, 5.2 rebounds and shot 51 percent (73-of-144) from the field in 27 contests for the Lynx last season. Perth dropped a pair of games to the Townsville Fire for the WNBL Grand Final title in March.
Burton will join fellow Mountaineer and Belarus standout Yelena Leuchanka in the Summer Olympics. Australia and Belarus are in Group A along with Brazil, France, Turkey and Japan. The Opals open the group phase on Saturday, August 6 against Brazil at the Youth Arena in Rio. Following the conclusion of the Opals game, Belarus will play Japan.
Prior to the trip to Rio, Australia will make a three-game exhibition tour in the United States. The Opals play Team Canada in Newark, Delaware, on Wednesday, July 27, in a 5 p.m. tilt. Australia then faces France at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, July 29, in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The tour concludes on July 31 in New York City when the world’s top-two teams, Australia and Team USA, go head-to-head in a 4 p.m. showdown at the historic Madison Square Garden.
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