TORONTO, ONT – Alex Kiss-Rusk of the national champion McGill University Martlets was one 33 athletes invited by Canada Basketball on Thursday to participate in a national women's team program assessment camp from May 12-22 at the Saville Community Sports Centre in Edmonton, Alta.

The 22-year-old psychology senior from Beaconsfield, Que., joins Ryerson's Kellie Ring, a 5-foot-9 guard from Ottawa, as the only Canadian university players invited from U SPORTS, the national governing body previously known as CIS. The roster includes 10 current players from the NCAA, nine from the WNBA, two products of the Quebec CEGEP league, two from the Ontario Senior Basketball Association, two from pro leagues in France and one from the U.S. high school system, plus one apiece from leagues in Germany, Australia, Russia, Greece and Portugal.

"After our second-consecutive trip to the Olympics, we're excited to start preparing for a new qualifying cycle," said Denise Dignard, director of the women's high performance program. "This phase is focused on bringing our pool of athletes together and assessing our path forward to Tokyo 2020. Our athletes, coaches and staff have all had great seasons with their respective clubs and schools and we're looking forward to coming together."

Kiss-Rusk, a 6-foot-4 centre and two-time team MVP, was an RSEQ all-conference selection for the second straight season and earned the league's defensive player of  the year award. She was named national championship tournament MVP after meriting player-of-the-game honours in all three games at Nationals. She started in all 33 games, averaging 31.5 minutes 14.6 points and 9.8 rebounds per game. She registered a team-leading 14 "double-doubles", to go along with 79 blocked shots, 76 assists and 24 steals. Kiss-Rusk shot 48.7 from the field (109/409) and 72.8 from the free-throw line (83/114).

Following training, a squad will be named to travel to Spain and France for a five-game exhibition tour. Canada, currently ranked sixth in the world, will face-off against No. 2 Spain, No. 13 Japan, No. 27 Montenegro, No. 3 France, and No. 41  Ukraine.

The full list of invitees, staff and schedule for Phase 1 follows below:

2017 SENIOR WOMEN'S NATIONAL TEAM PHASE 1 SCHEDULE
 

PHASE 1	DATES	LOCATION
Assessment Camp	May 12-15	Edmonton
Training Camp	May 16-22	Edmonton
TOURNAMENT IN SPAIN		TBC, Spain
Canada vs. Spain	May 26
Canada vs. Japan	May 27
TOURNAMENT IN FRANCE		Bordeaux, France
Canada vs. Montenegro	May 31
Canada vs. France	June 1
Canada vs. Ukraine	June 2