China, Italy, Russia, Spain, United States • April 7, 2007 - Aug. 5, 2008

With an eye toward continued adaptability to the changing women's basketball environment and building upon the success of the USA Basketball Women's National Team program, USA Basketball on March 6, 2007, announced the first 21 members of the 2007-08 USA Women's National Team.The initial group of seasoned veterans and rising stars, along with talented additions to the pool that expanded to 29 members by Oct. 29, 2007, would train together over the next two years in an effort to be fully prepared to defend the USA's string of three consecutive Olympic gold medals in Beijing.

Beginning with its 2007 Tour of Italy, the USA coaching staff, headed by then-Seattle Storm head coach Anne Donovan, and rounded out by University of Texas head coach Gail Goestenkors, University of South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley and Connecticut Sun head coach Mike Thibault, put their plan into place over the course of seven training camps that saw various versions of the USA National Team compete in Italy; Trenton, N.J.; Uncasville, Conn.; eight different college towns across the United States; Spain; and China; while compiling a 23-2 record.

Additionally, members of the National Team played on the USA Select Team in the 2007 FIBA World League Tournament in Ekaterinburg, Russia, where the U.S. garnered the silver medal with a 3-2 mark against some of the top pro teams in the world.

Despite having limited training time with what would become the 12-member Olympic team, Donovan and her assistant coaches utilized the training periods wisely. She put into place her offense, defense and made sure that the U.S. would be more than prepared no matter which athletes made the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team. All the travel, practice, wins and losses paid off at the end of August as the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team rolled through its competition with a perfect 8-0 mark to extend the USA's Olympic run to four gold medals and 33 consecutive wins.

2007 Tour of Italy (4-0)
Opening 2007 with a springtime Tour of Italy, the U.S. took on four different squads and earned a 4-0 slate as several younger players had the opportunity to play extended minutes due to the fact that the starters usually jumped to an early lead.

The U.S. began its tour by receiving 15 points and eight rebounds from collegian Sylvia Fowles as it downed the Italian National Team 77-47 on April 11 in Rome.

Moving to Naples, Tamika Catchings led the way with 14 points and 11 rebounds as the U.S. dismantled Phard Napoli 72-49 on April 12. Catchings again posted a double-double, this time 15 points and 12 rebounds, as the squad handled Virtus Viterbo 82-42 in Viterbo on April 16. In its final contest Catchings and just-drafted Jessica Davenport led the squad with 13 points as the team put away the Pomezia Region All-Stars 81-41 in Pomezia on April 17.

USA veteran Catchings led the team in scoring and rebounding, averaging 12.8 ppg. and 9.0 rpg.; while Fowles averaged 10.3 ppg. and 7.0 rpg.; and Taj McWilliams-Franklin averaged 9.5 ppg. and 6.8 rpg.

2007 Australia Exhibition Games (2-0)
In September, while preparing for the 2007 FIBA Americas Championship, the USA took on rival Australia in a pair of exhibition games. The bulk of the U.S. team that downed the Aussies went on to help the red, white and blue finish 5-0, win a gold medal and qualify for the 2008 Olympics at the 2007 FIBA Americas Championship.

Following two weeks of training in New York and Philadelphia, the USA took on Australia in Trenton on Sept. 16 and at the home of the Connecticut Sun in Uncasville on Sept. 19. The U.S. was without the services of Cappie Pondexter, Katie Smith and Diana Taurasi for both games and Swin Cash for the first game due to the WNBA Finals.

Both times the U.S. came out on top. However, the first contest saw the USA post a heady 96-64 victory as Thompson led the way with 21 points; while the second game was a much closer affair, 70-66. Candace Parker earned high scoring honors with 23 points.

Parker paced the U.S. with 15.5 ppg., Tina Thompson averaged 15.0 ppg. and Candice Wiggins, who was named as an alternate to the USA FIBA Americas Championship squad, averaged 10.0 ppg.

2007 FIBA World League Tourn. (3-2 / Silver Medal)
Members of the USA National Team were named to the 2007 USA Select Team that competed in the 2007 FIBA World League Tournament in Ekaterinburg, Russia. The squad took on some of the world's top professional teams and came away with a 3-2 mark and the silver medal.

Kara Lawson scored 20 points as the USA opened on Oct. 22 with a 93-49 thrashing of Australia's Canberra Capitals.

The U.S. battled back from a 13-point deficit but fell just short in a 79-76 loss to TEO Vilnius. The USA received 16 points and eight rebounds from Taurasi and 15 points and 10 rebounds from Janel McCarville.

Facing a must-win situation if it were to advance to the medal semifinals, the USA outlasted a strong CSKA Moscow pro team 81-72. Seimone Augustus led the American women with 19 points.

Behind a game-high 25 points from Taurasi, the USA surged past host UMMC Ekaterinburg 97-79 and into the championship game.

Despite receiving 18 points and nine rebounds from McCarville, the USA's shots wouldn't fall in the final game and it suffered a 75-65 loss to CSKA Moscow and went home with the silver medal.

Taurasi was the USA's high scorer overall with 14.6 ppg., while McCarville added 12.6 ppg. and a team-best 9.2 rpg., and Smith scored at a clip of 10.0 ppg.

2007 College Tour (8-0)
Upon returning to the States, the National Team embarked on its coast-to-coast 2007 College Tour and wowed fans across the country while compiling a perfect slate against eight of the nation's top collegiate programs.

Opening against Maryland on Halloween, Lawson's 17 points led the USA to a 90-73 victory. Lisa Leslie, playing in her first game in over a year after sitting out the 2007 WNBA season to give birth to her first child, grabbed a game-best 10 boards and added eight points.

Leslie had 19 points, six rebounds, three assists and three blocks in aiding the U.S. to a 90-74 victory over Connecticut on Nov. 2. In its second game Taurasi scored 28 points and Leslie had 18 points and 12 rebounds as the U.S. earned its closest win of the tour against Tennessee, 83-72, on Nov. 4.

Heading west, the U.S., behind a double-double of 21 points and 11 rebounds from Taurasi, blasted Baylor 82-56 on Nov. 6; Augustus and Cash tossed in 14 points apiece to steer the team past Arizona State 82-48 on Nov. 8; and on Nov. 11 the U.S. put together a dominating 75-24 victory over Texas A&M as Kara Braxton led with 18 points.

Facing the only unranked team on the tour, the USA started off slow but finished wtih an 88-61 victory over Southern California on Nov. 13 as Leslie posted 25 points and 10 rebounds at her alma mater.

In the final contest of the year the USA National Team handed Stanford a 97-62 defeat behind Bird's 19 points on Nov. 15.

Taurasi, Leslie and Augustus were the team's top scorers on the tour, averaging 14.8 ppg., 14.1 ppg. and 12.9 ppg., respectively. Leslie topped the rebounding chart with an 8.1 rpg. average, and Taurasi's 34 assists also was a team high, while Leslie was credited with 27 and Augustus passed out 24 assists.

2008 Tour of Spain (2-0)
The USA played two games during a March 14-20 training camp in Spain that saw McCarville suit up for the first four days of training before heading back to her EuroLeague squad.

In its firsts contest the USA fell into a 15-point hole early but rebounded for an 82-72 exhibition victory over Spain's top pro team Ros Casares in Valencia on March 18. Lindsay Whalen and Katie Douglas paved the way with 14 and 13 points, respectively.

Trailing by 10 points with 13 minutes remaining in regulation, the U.S. fought back and secured a 69-66 overtime victory over Perfumerias Avenida in Salamanca on March 20. Augustus, who had nine of her game-high 17 points in the fourth quarter, led the attack.

Augustus averaged 12.5 ppg., Whalen posted 12.0 ppg. and a team-high 6.5 rpg., while Douglas added 10.5 ppg.

2008 Good Luck Beijing Tournament (4-2 / Silver Medal)
Traveling to Beijing with a young team that featured just four of the USA's eventual 12-member Olympic team, including Fowles, Lawson, Leslie and Smith, the United States overcame numerous obstacles en route to a 4-2 mark and the silver medal.

Playing its first two games without Lawson, who joined the team on the heels of her honeymoon; the U.S. saw the arrival of McWilliams-Franklin, who flew to Beijing directly from her team's outster in the Israeli League playoffs, hours before the first game; while Harding, the team's starting point guard, strained her left knee in the third quarter on April 24 and did not play in the final.

The U.S. dropped its opener against Australia, 74-60, on April 19, despite 17 points, eight rebounds and three assists from Leslie.

Fowles, who was in foul trouble during the USA's opening contest, made up for missed time, posting 25 points and 18 rebounds to lead the U.S. past Cuba 92-60 on April 20.

The Americans easily dispatched South Korea 90-56 on April 21 as Fowles scored 20 points to top the USA's scoring efforts. Fowles paced the U.S. squad with 14 points as the team improved to 3-1 with a 78-63 victory over New Zealand on April 23. In its final preliminary game, the United States drubbed host China 86-61 on April 24 as Leslie poured in 26 points.

Advancing to the gold medal game, the USA fell to a stocked Chinese squad 84-81 in the final contest. Falling behind early, the American women came back from a 12-point deficit, but were unable to hold on as the host team, which featured 10 of its eventual 12-member Olympic team, clipped the U.S. 84-81 for the gold medal.

Serving up notice to the rest of the world and cementing her spot on the 2008 Olympic squad was Fowles, who averaged team highs of 17.0 ppg. and 10.5 rpg., which ranked first and second, respectively, among the six-team field. Fowles also led all tournament leaders in field goal percentage (.629) and blocked shots (2.5 bpg.). Leslie averaged 14.7 ppg. and 7.8 rpg., while Smith averaged 12.5 ppg.

2008 FIBA Diamond Ball Tournament (3-0 / Gold Medal)
The USA National Team played together for the first time as the 12-member Olympic team and captured the 2008 FIBA Diamond Ball Tournament in Haining, China.

Facing Latvia in its opener, the U.S. received 13 points from Fowles as the squad earned an 84-74 win on Aug. 3.

Russia proved to be no problem once the USA got rolling as it took eventual Olympic bronze medalists to task, 93-58, behind a team-high 21 points from Taurasi.
Advancing to the gold medal game, Leslie posted a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds to edge past defending world champs Australia in a physical 71-67 win for the tournament title.

In the USA's well-rounded gold medal run, Taurasi averaged 11.3 ppg. to lead the team, Parker added 10.7 ppg., while Leslie added 10.0 ppg. and a team-high 5.7 rpg.

2007-08 USA BASKETBALL WOMEN'S NATIONAL TEAM ROSTER

2007-08 USA BASKETBALL WOMEN'S NATIONAL TEAM ROSTER BY EVENT