UConn commit Kelly Faris and the United States Under-18 national team will open play in the 2008 FIBA Americas U18 Championship for Women Wednesday against Venezuela. The top four finishers in the six-team tournament will qualify for the 2009 FIBA U19 World Championship for Women. Kelsey Bone and Skylar Diggins, two of the top targets on UConn's recruiting radar, are also a member of the U.S. squad.

Hopefully the games are more competitive than the CONACACAF Under-17 Women's Championship. The U.S. won the first two games in the qualifier for the inaugural Under-17 World Cup girls' soccer event by 6-0 and 9-0 scores over Costa Rica and El Salvador. While there are no Connecticut players on the U.S. soccer, stars from neighboring states have been impressive. The Mewis sisters - Samantha and Kristen - from Hanson, Mass. combined for the first U.S. goal in the third minute against Costa Rica. Samantha Mewis had two goals, Kristen Mewis had an assist and Victoria DiMartino of Massapequa, N.Y. had a goal in a 6-0 win Friday. In Sunday's 9-0 win over El Salvador Rachel Nuzzolese of Melville, N.Y. had three goals while Crystal Dunn of Rockville center anchored a defense which held El Salvador without a shot.

The U.S. already wrapped up a spot in the semifinals and can clinch the Pool A title with a win Tuesday against host Trinidad & Tobago. If the U.S. wins its semifinal, it will qualify for the Under-17 World Cup in New Zealand from Oct. 28-Nov. 16. If the U.S. loses, it would need to win the third-place game to earn a spot.

Closer to home, there are two pretty noteworthy female sporting events in Connecticut this week (not including Thursday's game between the Connecticut Sun and the one-person walking marketing blitz better known as rookie Candace Parker of the Los Angeles Sparks). On Sunday a sellout crowd of 3,300 saw Jennie Finch and the U.S. Olympic softball team beat the Stratford Brakettes 9-0 at DeLuca Field. I have been going to Brakette games at DeLuca Field dating back to 1991 and the third-inning home run hit by Jessica Mendoza rivaled a couple hit by Sheila (Cornell) Douty during her playing days with the Brakettes. It should be noted that the local fans did not boo former Tennessee star Monica Abbott so I guess you can consider that progress. Nobody got a bigger hand than Finch which is hardly a surprise. Among the crowd was Jamie Carey of the Connecticut Sun who made the drive to Stratford shortly after her two clutch 3-pointerss helped the Sun defeat the Chicago Sky to snap a five-game losing streak. Carey was at Texas when U.S. national team pitcher Cat Osterman was rewriting the NCAA record book with the Longhorns softball team.

The 2008 U.S. Girls' Junior golf championships began Monday at Hartford Golf Club in West Hartford and will run through Saturday.

In other women's sports of interest to Connecticut fans, don't believe the news reports of Amelie Mauresmo being named as a late replacement for Mary Pierce on France's Olympic tennis team. Mauresmo, apparently annoyed at France's tennis federation for slating her to play doubles only, took her name out of consideration for a spot on the Olympic team. The International Tennis Federation originally sent out notice that Mauresmo has been named to the squad and some European news organizations went with the info without checking with Mauresmo or her camp. Big mistake. A few hours late the ITF announced that Pauline Parmentier has replaced Mauresmo on the team and will play singles and doubles in next month's Olympics. What that measn for Connecticut-based tennis fans is that Mauresmo's commitment to the Aug. 15-23 Pilot Pen Tennis tournament in New Haven is solid.