COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Former Louisiana Tech star Cheryl Ford is one of four current WNBA players who have been invited to tryouts for the 2004 USA Basketball Women's Senior National Team which will compete in the 2004 Athens Olympics.

Ford, who was named the 2003 WNBA Rookie of the Year after helping guide the Detroit Shock to the WNBA Championship in August, joins fellow Detroit Shock teammates Swin Cash and Ruth Riley along with Los Angeles Spark guard Nikki Teasley.

"It would mean a lot to me (to be a member of this team)," said Ford. "I'd try to go out and give it my all. I'd do my best to contribute to the team to win and represent our country. But it's just a great privilege for me to even be able to go and try out for this team."

As a rookie for Detroit last year, Ford averaged 10.8 points and 10.4 rebounds per game while starting all 32 regular season contests. The two-time Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year who starred at Louisiana Tech for four seasons was instrumental in the Shocks run to the WNBA Title.

If Ford was selected for the squad, by all indications, she would be the first father-daughter combination to ever play for the U.S. Olympic Basketball Team following in the footsteps of her father Karl Malone, who played for the US in the 1992 and 1996 Olympics.

"I've talked to him about it, and he was more excited about me trying out than I was," Ford said. "He was really excited for me and told me to just go out and give it my all. If I make it, good. But if I don't, I'm young and I still have time."

Nine of the 10 roster spots have already been filled by WNBA players. The tryouts are set for Feb. 19-27 in Jacksonville, Fla.