Fourteen Finalists Remain In The Hunt For The 2010 USA World Championship Team

Sept. 19, 2010 • Salamanca, Spain

Following a two-week training camp that included four exhibition games, USA Basketball today announced the 14 finalists who remain in contention for a spot on the 2010 USA Women’s World Championship Team. The 2010 FIBA World Championship begins Sept. 23 in the Czech Republic, and the U.S. must have its final 12-member roster submitted to FIBA on Sept. 22. Selections were made by the USA Basketball Women’s National Team Player Selection Committee.

Named as finalists to the USA squad were: Jayne Appel (San Antonio Silver Stars), Seimone Augustus (Minnesota Lynx), Sue Bird (Seattle Storm), Swin Cash (Seattle Storm), Tamika Catchings (Indiana Fever), Tina Charles (Connecticut Sun), Candice Dupree (Phoenix Mercury), Sylvia Fowles (Chicago Sky), Asjha Jones (Connecticut Sun), Kara Lawson (Connecticut Sun), Angel McCoughtry (Atlanta Dream), Maya Moore (University of Connecticut), Diana Taurasi (Phoenix Mercury) and Lindsay Whalen (Minnesota Lynx).

“I like being down to 14 better than 17, but we’re still not at 12,” said USA and University of Connecticut head coach Geno Auriemma. “So, for the next couple of days we have to figure out how to get to 12. We have an opportunity to do that with the practice and scrimmage that we’ll have in the Czech Republic. I think the players, the staff and everyone are anxious for the middle of the week when we can finally settle on 12 and start playing the World Championship.”

Earning a 3-1 slate in its four exhibition games, two in the U.S. and two in Spain, the USA will scrimmage the Czech Republic in Brno on Sept. 20 (11:00 a.m. EDT). The team will then travel to Ostrava, where it will open 2010 World Championship play against Greece on Sept. 23 at 6:00 p.m. (12:00 p.m. EDT).  The U.S. will tip-off against Senegal on Sept. 24 at 6:00 p.m. (12:00 p.m. EDT) and closes out preliminary round play facing France on Sept. 25 at 3:15 p.m. (9:15 a.m. EDT). All of the USA games will air live on NBA TV, and fans can also watch live streaming of all FIBA World Championship games at www.FIBATV.com.
Remaining in Ostrava, the USA will cross over against the top three finishers out of Pool A, which includes defending world champ Australia, Belarus, Canada and China, for the Sept. 27-29 second round games. The medal round will be played in Karlovy Vary, with the quarterfinals scheduled for Oct. 1, the semifinals on Oct. 2 and the medal games played on Oct. 3.

Assisting Auriemma and the USA National Team through the 2010 FIBA World Championship are DePaul University head coach Doug Bruno, Los Angeles Sparks head coach Jennifer Gillom and Atlanta Dream head coach / general manager Marynell Meadors.

The U.S. will look to capture the title at the 2010 FIBA World Championship that will be held Sept. 23 – Oct. 3 in Brno, Karlovy Vary and Ostrava, Czech Republic, with the gold medal winner earning a berth to the 2012 Olympic Games.

Should the U.S. not finish with the gold medal in ‘10, it would have two additional chances to qualify for the Olympics: the 2011 FIBA Americas Olympic Qualifying Tournament (dates and site TBD) and 2012 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament (dates and site TBD).

In the past dozen years, the highly successful USA Basketball Women’s National Team program, ranked No. 1 in the world by FIBA, has posted a 63-1 slate in major international competitions, winning four consecutive Olympic gold medals (1996, 2000, 2004, 2008), two FIBA World Championship gold medals (1998, 2002), one FIBA World Championship bronze medal (2006) and one FIBA Americas Championship gold medal (2007).

The USA Basketball Women’s National Team Player Selection Committee is comprised of WNBA representatives Renee Brown, Chief of Basketball Operations and Player Relations; Dan Hughes, General Manager of the San Antonio Silver Stars; and Chief Operating Officer/General Manager of the Indiana Fever Kelly Krauskopf; athlete representative and five-time Olympian Teresa Edwards; and USA Basketball Women's National Team Director Carol Callan.

FIBA World Championship
The FIBA World Championship has been contested essentially every four years since 1953, and the United States captured the first two gold medals before the beginning of the Soviet domination of women’s basketball was kicked-off at the 1959 World Championship. The former USSR put together a string of five straight golds (1959, 1964, 1967, 1971, 1975), before the United States reclaimed gold in 1979. The Soviet Union in 1983 earned its final World Championship crown as the USA went on to capture four of the next five World Championships (1986, 1990, 1998, 2002). The only other nations to break into the gold medal column at this event are Australia, the defending world champion, and Brazil, which defeated the USA in the 1994 semifinals and went on to take the top spot that year.

The USA owns a record seven gold medals, one silver medal and two bronze medals in FIBA World Championship play, while compiling an all-time 88-21 record at the event. In 2006, the most recent World Championship, the U.S. fell 75-68 to Russia in the semifinals, but rebounded to take host Brazil 99-59 in the bronze medal game and finish with an 8-1 record. Australia earned gold after defeating Russia 91-74 in the final contest.