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| Atlanta Dream star Elizabeth Williams has been added to the Team USA roster and will play in Bridgeport on Saturday night. |
Columbia, SC—Following
its three-day camp in Columbia, South Carolina, which culminated with an
entertaining intra-squad exhibition game on Sept. 5, 14 athletes will continue
on to USA Basketball’s next training camp in the hopes of claiming a spot on
the 2018 USA World Cup Team.
Additionally, the roster further will be bolstered
by the addition of Elizabeth Williams,
who helped the Atlanta Dream advance to the 2018 WNBA semifinals.
Team USA will train at the New York Knicks practice facility
in Tarrytown, NY, on Friday at 10 a.m., before taking on Canada in an
exhibition contest on at the Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport on Saturday. Tip-off
is slated for 7 p.m. ET, and the game will be televised live on NBA-TV.
Two-time defending World Cup gold medalists, the USA is
preparing for the 2018 FIBA World Cup, which will be played Sept. 22-30 in
Tenerife, Spain.
Headlining the list of superstars on the roster is Tina Charles (New York
Liberty), a two-time Olympic and two-time World Cup gold medalist; as well as Nneka Ogwumike (Los Angeles Sparks)
and Odyssey Sims (Los Angeles
Sparks), who joined Charles on the 2014 gold medal winning USA World Cup Team.
Including Williams, the remaining 12 finalists for the USA
World Cup Team who will compete against Canada are: Layshia Clarendon (Connecticut
Sun), Napheesa Collier (University of
Connecticut), Diamond DeShields (Chicago
Sky), Stefanie Dolson (Chicago Sky), Allisha Gray (Dallas Wings), Sabrina Ionescu (University of
Oregon), Kelsey Mitchell (Indiana
Fever), Tiffany Mitchell (Indiana
Fever), Kelsey Plum (Las Vegas Aces), Morgan Tuck (Connecticut Sun)
and A’ja Wilson (Las Vegas Aces).
“We’re excited about the 14 that made it past the Columbia
round and that we’ll add in Elizabeth Williams to the mix in New York,” said
USA and University of South Carolina head coach Dawn
Staley. “But, each round what we’re looking forward to is
continuing to bond, to execute what we want to do on both sides of the ball and
to keep getting better every day. Every day. We have an Olympian, World Cup
gold medalists, WNBA All-Stars, and we’ve got some players who haven’t played
at the USA National Team level. So, I’m looking forward to continuing to mesh
everybody that we have on the roster as we move forward in this process of
getting ready for the World Cup.”
The team will face Japan in its final domestic exhibition
game on Sept. 10 (7 p.m. EDT) at the Charles E. Smith Center at George
Washington University in Washington, D.C. After a day off, the team will have
one final practice on Sept. 12 (10 a.m. EDT) at the Smith Center before
departing for Europe.
Members of the USA National Team pool who advanced to the
2018 WNBA semifinals were not available for the beginning of the camp, but may
be added at a later date. Those athletes include: Sue Bird (Seattle Storm); Elena Delle Donne (Washington
Mystics); Brittney Griner (Phoenix
Mercury); Tiffany Hayes (Atlanta Dream); Jewell Loyd (Seattle Storm); Breanna Stewart (Seattle
Storm); and Diana Taurasi (Phoenix
Mercury).
Prior to arriving in Tenerife, Canary Islands, for the World
Cup, the USA will play in a four-team, international tournament in Antibes,
France, Sept. 15-17, against Canada, France and Senegal.
The final 12-member 2018 USA World Cup Team will be selected
by the USA Women’s National Team Player Selection Committee prior to the start
of the World Cup.
Staley will be the USA
National Team head coach through 2020. Assisting Staley through the World Cup
are Dan Hughes (Seattle Storm),
whose Seattle Storm advanced to the WNBA Finals and will join the team upon the
conclusion of the Storm’s season, Cheryl Reeve
(Minnesota Lynx) and Jennifer Rizzotti
(George Washington University).
As was the case over the past three quadrenniums, the
2018-20 USA National Team roster will be fluid. It is expected that the
official, 12-member 2018 USA World Cup and 2020 U.S. Olympic teams, should the
USA qualify to compete in Tokyo, will be comprised of players from the 2018-20
USA National Team.
USA Basketball Women’s National Team director Carol Callan chairs the USA
Basketball Women’s National Team Player Selection Committee, which includes
three-time Olympic and two-time World Cup gold medalist Katie Smith as the athlete
representative; representing the WNBA is Connecticut Sun head coach Curt Miller and Los Angeles
Sparks general manager Penny Toler;
and University of Connecticut head coach Geno Auriemma,
who coached USA teams to gold medals at the past two Olympics and FIBA World
Cups, serves as a special advisor.
USA Basketball Women’s
National Team
Members of the USA Basketball Women’s National Team will compete in the 2018
FIBA World Cup and, assuming Team USA qualifies, the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in
Tokyo, to be played July 24-Aug. 9 2020, as well as additional USA training
camps and exhibition games.
The U.S. and Staley first will look to capture the title at
the 2018 FIBA Women’s World Cup of Basketball, with an automatic berth to the
2020 Olympic Games being awarded to the gold medalist. Should the U.S. not
finish with the gold medal in 2018, it would have two additional opportunities
to qualify for the Olympics: the 2019 FIBA AmeriCup (dates and site TBD) and
the 2020 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament (dates and site TBD).
FIBA World Cup of Basketball
Winners of back-to-back World Cup titles and four of the past five FIBA
World Cups, the USA owns a record nine gold medals, one silver medal and two
bronze medals in FIBA World Cup play, while compiling an all-time 103-21 record
at the event. In 2014, the most recent World Cup, the U.S. took the gold medal,
while Spain captured silver and Australia won bronze.
The USA will compete in preliminary round Group D and will
play Senegal on Sept. 22, China on Sept. 23 and Latvia on Sept. 25.
Group A includes Canada, France, Greece and South Korea;
Group B is comprised of Argentina, Australia, Nigeria and Turkey; while Group C
features Belgium, Japan, Puerto Rico and Spain.
Following the preliminary round, teams will be seeded, and
the top team from each group will earn an automatic berth to the quarterfinals,
while the No. 2 and No. 3 teams from each group will advance to the Sept. 26
quarterfinals play-in round. From there, winners will compete in the Sept.
28-30 medal round.
—Staff Reports
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