2004 USA Women's National Team Core To Begin Preparations For Athens

Four WNBA Standouts To Get Look For U.S. Team During February Training Camp

February 9, 2004  •  Colorado Springs, Colorado
 • Hopefuls Quotes

Swin Cash (clockwise from top left), Cheryl Ford, Ruth Riley and Nikki Teasley will join the USA Women's Senior National Team during its Feb. 18-27 training and competition in hopes of securing a roster spot on the 2004 U.S. squad.

USA Basketball announced that the 2004 USA Basketball Women's Senior National Team will prepare for the 2004 Athens Olympics with three separate training sessions that will be held Feb. 19-27, March 18-28 and April 4-13. Each training camp will feature available core group members as well as other selected players who will compete for one of the USA Senior National Team's final three roster positions. The Olympics will be held August 13-29.

The nine previously announced core group members of the 2004 USA Basketball Women's Senior National Team include Sue Bird (Seattle Storm), Tamika Catchings (Indiana Fever), Shannon Johnson (San Antonio Silver Stars), Lisa Leslie (Los Angeles Sparks), DeLisha Milton-Jones (Los Angeles Sparks), Katie Smith (Minnesota Lynx), Dawn Staley (Charlotte Sting), Sheryl Swoopes (Houston Comets) and Tina Thompson (Houston Comets). The nine internationally experienced athletes are expected to represent the United States at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.

The 2004 USA Basketball Women's Senior National Team will kick-off its training on Feb. 19 in Jacksonville, Fla. Eight of the USA's nine core group members, Bird, Catchings, Johnson, Leslie, Milton-Jones, Smith, Swoopes and Thompson (Staley is head coach at Temple University and will be unable to attend) will participate in the Feb. 19-27 training camp and will be joined by four top WNBA players who are being considered for a roster position on the 2004 Women's Senior National Team Roster. Those four hopefuls include Swin Cash (Detroit Shock), Cheryl Ford (Detroit Shock), Ruth Riley (Detroit Shock) and Nikki Teasley (Los Angeles Sparks). The 2004 USA Senior Team hopefuls were selected by the USA Basketball Women's Senior National Team Committee.

"First of all, I think it's imperative that we go out and play against international teams in the spring," said USA and Houston Comets head coach Van Chancellor. "We have to get our team together, but we also have to play against those types of players. I thought our trip to Australia, before we played in the (2002 FIBA) World Championship in China, was invaluable. It taught us what to do, how we needed to adjust to the international style of basketball. I think this training will allow us to do that, while at the same time we'll be bringing players together to help us complete this team.

"We've got three spots to fill on this team," continued Chancellor. "We need someone who can help us at the perimeter, we're looking for an outside shooter, someone who can play the three-four spot, and then we'll probably add the best athletes we can find."

"First and foremost, the Committee is looking for talented players in all areas," said USA Basketball Women's Senior National Team Committee chair Renee' Brown, who is the WNBA Vice President of Player Personnel. "We're looking for perimeter players and post players. Perimeter players who can consistently shoot from the outside and on the inside, players with size and strong rebounding skills. We're trying to balance out the talent we already have in the nine core players with athletes who will help fortify the USA against some of our stronger opponents like Australia, Brazil and Russia."

The U.S. squad will train four days in Jacksonville before departing for Cuba for a three-game exhibition series against the Cuba National Team at the Coliseo De La Ciudad Deportiva in Havana Feb. 24-26. Practices, all of which will be open to credentialed media only and held at the University of North Florida, will get started with a 6:30-9:00 p.m. (all times EST) session on Feb. 19. On Feb. 20 and 21 the squad will train from 1:00-4:00 p.m. and the Florida training will conclude Feb. 22 with a 9:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. practice. The United States will compete against 2003 Pan American Games gold medalist Cuba, which finished with the silver medal at the 2003 FIBA Americas Olympic Qualifying Tournament, at 8:45 p.m. on Feb. 24 and 25 and 7:00 p.m. on Feb. 26. The U.S. will conclude its two-week training and exhibition schedule with a practice on Feb. 27 before returning to the United States.

After a two and a half week break, the available U.S. core members, along with other candidates to be announced, will reconvene in Europe to compete against top club and national teams March 18-28. Opponents, exact dates and locations will be announced at a later date.

The available USA core members, as well as hopefuls to be announced, will regroup for the final training session at the 2004 NCAA Women's Final Four in New Orleans, La. (exact date TBD). Following the Final Four, the USA team will continue its training through April 13 at sites to be announced. Following the April training, the U.S. team members will break for the WNBA season and reconvene on Aug. 3 to complete their pre-Olympic training at sites to be announced.

Nikki Teasley helped the 1997 USA Junior World Championship Team collect the USA's only gold at the FIBA Junior Worlds.

Three of the four announced hopefuls have prior international experience with USA Basketball. Riley, who was a 2002 USA National Team hopeful and participated in the squad's spring training, was a member of the 1998 USA Basketball Select Team that finished 7-1 against national teams from Puerto Rico, Poland and Spain, and returned to USA Basketball the following summer to help the 1999 USA World University Games earn a silver medal. In 1997, Teasley was a member of the USA's only gold medal winning FIBA Junior World Championship Team, and she helped the U.S. claim silver in the ‘96 Junior World Championship Qualifying Tournament. In 1998 Ford was a member of the USA World Youth Games Team that finished with the bronze medal.

Cash, Ford and Riley teamed up last year to lead Detroit to the 2003 WNBA title, turning around the worst team in the league in 2002 to the No. 1 squad in 2003. Riley, the MVP of the Finals after scoring a career high 27 points in the 83-78 Game 3 victory, averaged 14.7 ppg. and 5.0 rpg. throughout the Finals. Cash averaged 12.7 ppg. and 5.3 apg., and Ford added 9.7 ppg. and 10.0 rpg. in the three-game series against the two-time defending champion Los Angeles Sparks.

Teasley also boasts a WNBA title. As a rookie she helped the Sparks collect the 2002 WNBA crown after she nailed a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give Los Angeles the 69-66 championship victory.

In addition to 2003 Finals MVP Riley, other USA hopefuls who have earned WNBA honors include the 2003 All-Star Game MVP Teasley, 2003 Rookie of the Year Ford, as well as 2003 All-WNBA second team selections Cash, Ford and Teasley. Additionally, Cash and Ford competed in the 2003 WNBA All-Star Game.

In addition to their international experience with USA Basketball, Ford, Riley and Teasley joined forces last fall to help the 2003 WNBA Select Team to a second place finish at the FIBA World Cup in Samara, Russia. Further honing her skills overseas, Teasley recently began competing alongside Milton-Jones for UMMC Ekaterinburg in Russia. Playing in three games thus far (as of 2/6/04) for the reigning EuroLeague champs, Teasley has averaged 2.7 ppg., 3.0 rpg. and 3.7 apg., and in her most recent contest passed off for eight assists in an 85-77 victory over MBK Ruzomberok.

2004 Olympic Games
Chancellor will direct the U.S. in its defense of its No. 1 world ranking at the 2004 Olympics and will be assisted by three-time Olympian Anne Donovan, head coach of the WNBA Seattle Storm. The USA's two additional assistant coaches, who will be collegiate head coaches, will be announced at a later date. The XXVIII Olympic Games will feature national teams from 12 nations competing Aug. 13-29 in Athens, Greece.

The USA owns a 34-3 overall record (.919 winning percentage) in Olympic competition and has won a record four golds, one silver and one bronze medal in the six previous Olympic basketball competitions in which the U.S. competed. The United States, which earned the silver medal at the inaugural Olympic women's basketball tournament in 1976, earned its first gold at the ‘84 Games in Los Angeles and captured back-to-back golds with unblemished 8-0 records in the 1996 and 2000 Olympics.

With the exception of host Greece and the United States, which earned its Olympic qualifying berth by virtue of its 2002 World Championship gold medal finish, teams were required to qualify through zone qualifying tournaments for the 2004 Olympics. Earning the 10 remaining spots among Athens competitors were: Australia (Oceania #1), Brazil (Americas #1), China (Asia #1), Czech Republic (Europe #2), Japan (Asia #2), New Zealand (Oceania #2), Nigeria (Africa #1), Russia (Europe #1), South Korea (Asia #3) and Spain (Europe #3).

The Olympic draw was conducted Jan. 26 and the U.S. was placed in Group B with China, Czech Republic, New Zealand, South Korea and Spain. Group A consists of Australia, Brazil, Greece, Japan, Nigeria and Russia.

The United States will open preliminary round play against New Zealand on Aug. 14, face the Czechs on Aug. 16, South Korea on Aug. 18, Spain on Aug. 20 and will close out preliminary round play versus China on Aug. 22. The top four teams from each preliminary round group will advance to the Aug. 25 quarterfinals, with the winners playing in the semifinals on Aug. 27 and the medal games will be contested Aug. 28.

The USA Basketball Women's Senior National Team Committee which selected the coaches and the first nine 2004 USA team members, consists of eight members and a nonvoting chair. Brown serves as chair of the Committee, which includes New York Liberty Senior Vice President and General Manager Carol Blazejowski; Indiana Fever Chief Operating Officer Kelly Krauskopf; Sacramento Monarchs General Manager Jerry Reynolds; Phoenix Mercury Vice President of Operations Seth Sulka; Los Angeles Sparks General Manager Penny Toler; and Stanford University head coach Tara VanDerveer, who piloted the 1996 U.S. Olympic Team to a gold medal. Serving as athlete representatives are Staley, 1996 and 2000 Olympic and 1998 World Championship gold medal winner; and Lynette Woodard, a 1984 Olympic and 1990 World Championship gold medalist.