PUERTO RICO -- Former University of Delaware softball standout Melissa Basilio (at right), currently an assistant coach at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, SC, is serving as an assistant coach for the Canadian Junior Women’s National Softball Team this week at the Pan Am Championships in Puerto Rico.

The tournament began Nov. 8 and finishes Nov. 18. The event is a qualifier for the 2007 International Softball Federation World Championship to be played later this year in Kutno, Poland.

Basilio, a native of Pickering, Ontario where she was a standout at St. Mary’s High School, is one of three assistant coaches on the squad. She and fellow assistants Glen Boles and Cherene Hiesl are serving under head coach Mark Sanderson.

Basilio is currently in her third season as an assistant coach at NCAA Division I Winthrop where she helped lead the Lady Eagles to the Big South regular season title in 2005 and to a 30-30 record in 2006.

While at Delaware, she was a four-year standout as an infielder, leading the Blue Hens to a second place America East conference finish in 2000 with a 36-24 overall record and a berth in the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament in 2003 for head coach B.J. Ferguson.

An Academic All-American nominee, she served as captain as a senior in 2003 and was a two-time second team All-CAA performer. She hit .297 with nine runs batted in as a junior in 2002 and hit .258 with 15 RBI as a senior. She set a UD record for career defensive assists with 496.