2009 USA Basketball Women's National Team
Sept. 30 – Oct. 11, 2009 • Washington, D.C., Ekaterinburg, Russia
University of Connecticut head coach Geno Auriemma began his first training camp as the 2009-12 USA National Team head coach in the nation’s capital, where 19 athletes joined up for a training camp prior to a 13-member team traveling to Ekaterinburg, Russia, for the UMMC Ekaterinburg International Invitational. Auriemma was assisted on the sideline by 2010 USA World Cup Team assistant coaches Doug Bruno and Jennifer Gillom.
Named prior to the camp to the 2009-12 USA National Team on Aug. 17 were an initial group of eight athletes, including Seimone Augustus, Sue Bird, Tamika Catchings, Sylvia Fowles, Kara Lawson, Candace Parker, Cappie Pondexter and Diana Taurasi.
In addition to the eight core members, invited to participate in the training camp were Jayne Appel, Alana Beard, Swin Cash, Tina Charles, Shameka Christon, Candice Dupree, Lindsey Harding, Ebony Hoffman, Asjha Jones, Crystal Langhorne, Angel McCoughtry, Renee Montgomery, Maya Moore, Lindsay Whalen and Candice Wiggins.
Catchings, Hoffman, Pondexter and Taurasi helped advance their teams to the WNBA Finals and did not attend the training. Appel, Augustus, Beard, Lawson and Whalen were injured; however, they attended the training camp in order to begin to learn Auriemma’s system.
The Sept. 30 – Oct. 5 training not only included five practices, one of which was open to the public, the team attended a MLB Washington Nationals game and signed autographs for fans. Further, the squad spent an afternoon visiting patients at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and on another day held an open practice for members of the military, followed by a clinic for children of military members at Walter Reed.
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UMMC Ekaterinburg Friday, October 9 Final Standings |
Getting 17 points from McCoughtry, the USA opened the tournament with an impressive offensive showing that saw the U.S. roll to a 100-81 victory over the Czech professional team ZVVC UKA Prague on Oct. 9.
Also scoring in double digits were Fowles with 14 points, Jones scored 13 points and University of Connecticut senior Charles added 12 points.
Parker injured her left shoulder in the first minute of the second quarter, left the game in pain and did not return to the court for the remainder of the tournament.
Behind a balanced scoring attack that saw all 12 healthy USA players score, including a USA high 15 points from Charles, the USA defeated Euroleasing Sopron 79-65 on Oct. 10.
All of Christon’s 12 points were tallied from behind the 3-point arc where she made 4-of-6 tries. Jones contributed 11 points, McCoughtry finished with nine points and shared the USA’s top rebounding honors with Charles as both players pulled in seven boards.
Facing also undefeated host Ekat on Oct. 11 in a game that would determine the winner of the round-robin tournament, the USA roster was down another member after UMMC dictated that Jones, who was under contract with the Russian team for the upcoming season, had to play for the host team. However, that didn’t stop the USA, which was fueled by a 23-0 offensive onslaught that covered the last half of the second quarter and the first two minutes of the third, from claiming a 78-63 victory and tournament title.
The U.S. was led by McCoughtry’s 20 points on 9-of-15 shooting, while Cash accounted for 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting, Bird added 11 points and Charles tossed in 10 points and grabbed eight boards. Fowles snagged a game-best 12 rebounds and contributed five points. Playing for UMMC Ekaterinburg, Jones finished the game with six points and five rebounds.
McCoughtry was named the tournament’s most valuable player and Bird was selected the invitational’s most valuable point guard.
2009 USA Ekaterinburg International Invitational Roster
| NAME | POS | HGT | WGT | WNBA TEAM / COLLEGE | HOMETOWN |
| *Sue Bird | G | 5-9 | 150 | Seattle Storm / Connecticut | Syosset, NY |
| Swin Cash | F | 6-1 | 162 | Seattle Storm / Connecticut | McKeesport, PA |
| Tina Charles | C | 6-3 | 193 | n/a / Connecticut | Jamaica, NY |
| Shameka Christon | F | 6-1 | 185 | New York Liberty / Arkansas | Hot Springs, AR |
| Candice Dupree | F | 6-2 | 162 | Chicago Sky / Temple | Tampa, FL |
| *Sylvia Fowles | C | 6-6 | 200 | Chicago Sky / Louisiana State | Miami, FL |
| Lindsey Harding | G | 5-8 | 139 | Washington Mystics / Duke | Houston, TX |
| Asjha Jones | F | 6-3 | 196 | Connecticut Sun / Connecticut | Piscataway, NJ |
| Crystal Langhorne | F/C | 6-2 | 190 | Washington Mystics / Maryland | Willingboro, NJ |
| Angel McCoughtry | F | 6-1 | 160 | Atlanta Dream / Louisville | Baltimore, MD |
| Renee Montgomery | G | 5-7 | 139 | Minnesota Lynx / Connecticut | St. Albans, WV |
| *Candace Parker | F/C/G | 6-4 | 172 | Los Angeles Sparks / Tennessee | Naperville, IL |
| Candice Wiggins | G | 5-11 | 154 | Minnesota Lynx / Stanford | San Diego, CA |
Head Coach: Geno Auriemma, University of Connecticut
Assistant Coach: Doug Bruno, DePaul University
Assistant Coach: Jennifer Gillom, Minnesota Lynx
Team Physician: Dave Weinstein, Colorado Springs, Colorado
Athletic Trainer: Ed Ryan, Colorado Springs, Colorado
*Members of the 2009-12 USA Basketball Women's National Team.
NOTE: In addition to the roster above, the following athletes took part in the D.C. portion of training camp: *Jayne Appel, *Seimone Augustus, *Alana Beard, *Kara Lawson, Maya Moore and Lindsay Whalen.
USA Cumulative Statistics (3-0)
| NAME | G/S | FGM-A | PCT | 3PM-A | PCT | FTM-A | PCT | REB | PTS | AT | BK | ST |
| McCoughtry | 3/3 | 20- 32 | .625 | 2- 6 | .333 | 4- 7 | .571 | 22/ 7.3 | 46/15.3 | 8 | 4 | 6 |
| Charles | 3/0 | 16- 30 | .533 | 0- 0 | .--- | 5- 9 | .556 | 20/ 6.7 | 37/12.3 | 3 | 4 | 1 |
| Jones | 2/0 | 10- 14 | .714 | 0- 0 | .--- | 4- 5 | .800 | 9/ 4.5 | 24/12.0 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| Christon | 3/1 | 10- 19 | .526 | 8- 13 | .615 | 0- 0 | .--- | 4/ 1.3 | 28/9.3 | 5 | 2 | 3 |
| Parker | 1/1 | 3- 4 | .750 | 0- 0 | .--- | 2- 3 | .667 | 3/ 3.0 | 8/8.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cash | 3/1 | 8- 16 | .500 | 0- 0 | .--- | 7- 7 | 1.000 | 11/ 3.7 | 23/7.7 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Fowles | 3/3 | 10- 19 | .526 | 0- 0 | .--- | 1- 5 | .200 | 19/ 6.3 | 21/7.0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Dupree | 3/1 | 8- 16 | .500 | 0- 0 | .--- | 5- 5 | 1.000 | 11/ 3.7 | 21/7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| Bird | 3/3 | 8- 24 | .333 | 1- 10 | .100 | 2- 2 | 1.000 | 7/ 2.3 | 19/6.3 | 14 | 0 | 2 |
| Montgomery | 3/2 | 5- 16 | .313 | 0- 5 | .000 | 4- 4 | 1.000 | 8/ 2.7 | 14/4.7 | 8 | 2 | 4 |
| Langhorne | 3/0 | 3- 5 | .600 | 0- 0 | .--- | 0- 0 | .--- | 6/ 2.0 | 6/2.0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Wiggins | 3/0 | 2- 4 | .500 | 1- 3 | .333 | 0- 0 | .--- | 2/ 0.7 | 5/1.7 | 4 | 0 | 1 |
| Harding | 3/0 | 2- 9 | .222 | 1- 1 | 1.000 | 0- 0 | .--- | 4/1.3 | 5/1.7 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| USA | 3 | 105-208 | .505 | 13-38 | .342 | 34-47 | .723 | 126/42.0 | 257/85.7 | 54 | 14 | 29 |
| Opp. | 3 | 76-204 | .373 | 21-64 | .328 | 36-55 | .655 | 97/32.3 | 209/69.7 | 57 | 14 | 24 |
