Charles was named to the national team invited to compete at the 1992 Olympics, held in Barcelona, Spain. The USA team won their first three games, but then played the Unified Team and fell, 79–73. The USA team then faced Cuba for the bronze medal. The game was tied at halftime, and Cuba had a small lead midway through the second half, but the USA went on a run to retake the lead, and finished with an 88–74 victory and the bronze medal. Charles averaged 6.2 points per game.[1]
Charles continued to represent the USA on the national team when it competed in the 1994 World Championships in Sydney, Australia. The team was coached by Tara VanDerveer. The team won their early games. Against Spain, Charles led the USA scorers with 18 points, helping secure the win. She also contributed 22 points to a win against the host team Australia. The team then advanced to the medal rounds and faced Brazil. Despite 29 points from Katrina McClain, the USA fell 110–107 when Brazil hit ten of ten free throws in the final minute. The USA went on to defeat Australia 100–95 to claim the bronze medal.[2]
WNBA
Charles was selected as the 8th overall pick in the 1997 WNBA Elite Draft by the Los Angeles Sparks. Her debut game was played on June 21, 1997 in a 57 - 67 loss to the New York Liberty. Charles started the game but only played 7 minutes while recording 1 rebound and 1 block but no points.[3] She played only 28 games in her career, all of them during the 1997 season with the Sparks. Her debut game would also be the only time she started a game in her career. The Sparks finished the 1997 season 14 - 14 and missed the playoffs.
Charles would not play in the WNBA after this season. And because the Sparks missed the playoffs, Charles' final WNBA game was the last regular season game of that year. That game was played on August 24, 1997 where the Sparks were defeated 68 - 73 by the Phoenix Mercury. Charles played 12 minutes and only recorded 1 block as a statistic.[4]
