Kiah Gillespie's spirited bid to become the first Connecticut native to make a women's national team in 15 years ended this morning when she was not one of the 12 players named to the U-17 national team.

However, the way the Capital Prep rising senior held her own against the nation's very best bodes well for her future and it gives Meriden yet another major college prospect to call its own.

Damika Martinez was the eighth-leading scorer in women's Division I basketball last season, averaging 24.9 points a game as a junior at Iona. Sadie Edwards is part of the four-member incoming freshman class for two-time defending national champion UConn and now Gillespie was among the final 46 players competing for spots on the U-17 squad.

"People don't think Meriden has good basketball players but we have some, we have my brother and he is going to New Haven and we have some good players out here. We are being slept on but sometimes you do better when you are slept on."

Gillespie is aware of the two Meriden phenoms who preceded her.

"We used to play Mercy all the time and used to play against Sadie," Gillespie said. "I haven't spoke to her in a while and Martinez, I used to see her a lot. she was kind of like Sadie, playing with all the boys and I was thinking 'wow, I have to get like that some day.'"