USA Basketball

USA Basketball veterans Sue Bird (left) and Tina Thompson will travel to Chile in hopes of winning gold at the FIBA Americas Tournament as well as qualifying the USA for the 2008 Olympics. (Photo: Nathaniel S. Butler / NBAE / Getty Images)

Following a two-week training camp that saw the U.S. capture a pair of exhibition victories over rival Australia, the 2007 USA Basketball Women's FIBA Americas Championship Team, comprised of 12 elite and talented athletes, was announced today by USA Basketball. The squad will compete in the FIBA Americas Championship, slated for Sept. 26-30 in Valdivia, Chile, in hopes of earning the lone Olympic berth from the FIBA Americas zone. Only the gold medalist in the eight-team tournament will advance to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. The selections were made by the USA Basketball Women's Senior National Team Committee.

Named to the team were: Seimone Augustus (Minnesota Lynx), Sue Bird (Seattle Storm), Rebekkah Brunson (Sacramento Monarchs), Swin Cash (Detroit Shock), Kara Lawson (Sacramento Monarchs), DeLisha Milton-Jones (Washington Mystics), Courtney Paris (University of Oklahoma), Candace Parker (University of Tennessee), Cappie Pondexter (Phoenix Mercury), Katie Smith (Detroit Shock), Diana Taurasi (Phoenix Mercury) and Tina Thompson (Houston Comets).

Additionally, Candice Wiggins (Stanford University / San Diego, Calif.) was named as an alternate and will travel to Chile to train with the squad prior to the FIBA Americas Championship.

"This was a difficult decision to make," said Committee chair Reneé Brown, WNBA chief of basketball operations and player relations. "We feel that we have a veteran core group of players who understand how to win the big games, and we're confident that we've selected a team that has the experience, confidence, skills and will to win."

"I thought we had a great training camp that allowed us to build team chemistry," said USA and Seattle Storm head coach Anne Donovan. "Like Reneé said, it was definitely not an easy decision to make. Every player hustled and contributed in her own way during our training camp. I'm looking forward to the addition of Katie (Smith), Cappie (Pondexter) and Diana (Taurasi) to this already strong group. They'll add a whole new dimension to our team and will help us to achieve our goal, which is to win gold in Chile and, more important, qualify for the Olympics."

Seven of the the 12 players selected for the USA Team were member of last year's USA World Championship Team that garnered bronze. Augustus, Bird, Milton-Jones, Parker, Smith, Thompson and Taurasi were members of Donovan's 2006 USA World Championship squad. They also represent the USA's top five scorers at the worlds, and in fact are seven of the team's top eight scorers at the '06 World Championship.

The American roster of 12 also features six players who have Olympic gold medals. Bird, Cash, Smith, Taurasi and Thompson were members of the 2004 USA Olympic Team that captured gold, while Milton-Jones and Smith were also members of the 2000 U.S. Olympic team that claimed gold.

The USA Women's Senior National Team next heads to Chile Thursday, for its final preparations for the 2007 FIBA Americas Championship. Contested Sept. 26-30, the tournament's gold medal winner will earn one of 12 qualifying berths for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. The USA opens against Cuba on Sept. 26, followed by Jamaica on Sept. 27 and closes preliminary round play against Canada on Sept. 28. The top two teams in preliminary Group A, which includes Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Mexico, and Group B advance to the Sept. 29 medal semifinals. The gold medal, as well as the right to play in the 2008 Olympics, will be contested Sept. 30.

The U.S. owns an all-time 10-1 record and has captured gold in both Olympic Qualifying Tournaments in which it has participated (1976, 1980). The United States, because of being either the host country or the defending Olympic/World champions, earned an automatic berth and therefore did not have to qualify for the 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games.

From 1976 through 1992, the Olympic Qualifying Tournament was a worldwide affair. However, starting in 1995 five Olympic qualifiers took place around the globe -- one in each FIBA zone -- in the year preceding the Olympic Games. In 1995, with Brazil already qualified for the ‘96 Games by virtue of its 1994 World Championship title, Canada took the FIBA Americas Championship gold medal, Cuba took the silver and Puerto Rico brought home bronze. The 1999 FIBA Americas Championship saw Cuba claim the top spot, Brazil earn silver and Canada collect bronze; while in 2003 Brazil won the gold, Cuba finished with silver and Canada was the bronze medalist.

Should the United States not return home from Chile with the gold medal, there will be one final chance to qualify for the Olympics at the 2008 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament, slated for June 9-15 at a site TBD.

Teams finishing in second, third and fourth place at the 2007 FIBA Americas tournament will have one final chance to earn a spot in Beijing's 12-nation field at the 2008 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament. Those three nations along with nine other national teams from around the globe who did not claim gold at the remaining FIBA zones, including two from Africa (silver and bronze medalists), two from Asia (silver and bronze medalists), four from Europe (second through fourth place finishers) and one from Oceania (silver medalist), will compete for the final five Olympic slots at the 2008 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

The 2007-08 USA Basketball Women's Senior National Team lists a total of 27 players on its roster, including eight Olympic gold medalists, five World Championship gold medalists and all 12 members of the 2006 USA World Championship Team.

Donovan is being assisted by 2006 WNBA Coach of the Year Mike Thibault of the Connecticut Sun and collegiate head coaches Gail Goestenkors of the University of Texas and Temple University's (Pa.) Dawn Staley.