COLORADO SPRINGS, Col. — Shawnee Mission West’s S’Mya Nichols is representing the KC area on a big stage.

The five star women‘s basketball recruit was recently selected for the USA Basketball Women’s U18 National Team.

Nichols is one of four high school seniors on the team with the rest going into their first year of college. The twelve young women were selected from a field of 30 who were invited to Colorado Springs for trials.

The group will soon head to Buenos Aires, Argentina for the 2022 FIBA U18 Women’s Americas Championship on Monday where they face Colombia.

The USA will play Puerto Rico on June 14 and El Salvador on June 15 to wrap up group play. Tournament play begins June 17.

Nichols will look to lead the stars and stripes to their 10th straight gold medal in the FIBA U18 Women’s Americas Championships.