2018 USA Women’s National Team’s Road to FIBA World Cup To Include Domestic, International Exhibitions
- Jasmine Thomas Added To USA National Team Roster -
The 2018 USA Basketball Women’s National Team will tip-off its journey to the 2018 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Columbia, South Carolina, and fans will have three opportunities to cheer on the U.S. squad before it departs for Europe and its final World Cup preparations.
Opening training camp Sept. 3 at the University of South Carolina, selected available members of the 2017-20 USA National Team pool will play in a Red-White intrasquad exhibition contest at 7 p.m. (all times listed are EDT) on Sept. 5 at Colonial Life Arena. Traveling up the coast to Bridgeport, Connecticut, the USA will face Canada in a 7 p.m. game on Sept. 8 at Webster Bank Arena and close out its domestic tour against Japan at 7 p.m. on Sept. 10 at George Washington University’s Charles E. Smith Center in Washington, D.C. In addition to the USA’s exhibition games, Canada and Japan will square off at Webster Bank Arena at 7 p.m. on Sept. 7.
Information on purchasing tickets for each of the exhibition games can be found at usab.com/WNTtickets, and tickets for games in South Carolina and Connecticut may be purchased through Ticketmaster.com or by calling 1-800-745-3000; tickets for the USA's final game at GW can be purchased through GetGWTix.com or by calling 202-99-GWTIX (4-9849).
Tickets for the USA Red-White game go on sale July 19 and may also be purchased at the Lexington Medical Center Box Office inside Colonial Life Arena. Tickets for the USA versus Canada contest and the game between Canada and Japan are on sale now and can also be purchased in person at the Webster Bank Arena Click it or Ticket box. Tickets for the USA versus Japan game at George Washington University go on sale July 23.
“I’m extremely excited about our schedule,” said USA and South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley. “It’s a tremendous opportunity for our country to see our national team compete on American soil. The more people who get a chance to see quality play from our national team will bring more excitement to women’s basketball in general.
“Of course, I’m excited to play a game here in Columbia. Our fans have affinity for women’s basketball. I hope to see that same excitement in September. I know it’s a prelude to hopefully what will be a great season for our Gamecocks but to see what’s going to take place in our arena in September will be quite exciting for them. I know they’ll come out in huge numbers to support our national team.
“I’m equally excited to spread the USA Basketball National Team love in Bridgeport. I’ve been a part of games there as an assistant with USA Basketball and the ovation that we get time and time again is probably the reason that we keep coming back. The people in Connecticut really embrace great basketball and we’re looking forward to another great exhibition game in Bridgeport.
“And any time that you can play in our nation’s capital, it’s always a great thing. Especially when you are representing our country in this way. I hope that fans from all over D.C., the tri-state area come out and support our team as it will be the last time that they will get a chance to see us before we compete in the World Cup.”
Prior to arriving in Tenerife, Canary Islands, for the Sept. 22-30 FIBA World Cup, the USA will play in a four-team, international tournament in Antibes, France, Sept. 15-17.
The final 12-member 2018 USA World Cup Team will be selected from the 2018-20 USA National Team pool, which lists 34 athletes with the recent addition of Jasmine Thomas (Connecticut Sun), by the USA Women’s National Team Player Selection Committee. Thomas was previously a member of the 2010 USA Select Team that trained with the 2010 USA National Team, and 2007 USA U19 World Cup Team that claimed a gold medal with a perfect 9-0 record. The former Duke All-American, Thomas is a 2017 WNBA All-Star and is averaging 14.0 points and 4.6 assists in helping lead the Sun to an 8-6 record (as of 6/26/18) in her eighth season in the league.
In addition to Thomas, the 2018-20 USA Basketball Women’s National Team currently includes: Seimone Augustus (Minnesota Lynx); Sue Bird (Seattle Storm); Tina Charles (New York Liberty); Layshia Clarendon (Connecticut Sun); Napheesa Collier (University of Connecticut); Elena Delle Donne (Washington Mystics); Skylar Diggins-Smith (Dallas Wings); Stefanie Dolson (Chicago Sky); Asia Durr (University of Louisville); Sylvia Fowles (Minnesota Lynx); Allisha Gray (Dallas Wings); Chelsea Gray (Los Angeles Sparks); Brittney Griner (Phoenix Mercury); Tiffany Hayes (Atlanta Dream); Jewell Loyd (Seattle Storm); Kayla McBride (Las Vegas Aces); Angel McCoughtry (Atlanta Dream); Kelsey Mitchell (Indiana Fever); Tiffany Mitchell (Indiana Fever); Maya Moore (Minnesota Lynx); Chiney Ogwumike (Connecticut Sun); Nneka Ogwumike (Los Angeles Sparks); Kelsey Plum (Las Vegas Aces); Katie Lou Samuelson (University of Connecticut); Odyssey Sims (Los Angeles Sparks); Breanna Stewart (Seattle Storm); Brittney Sykes (Atlanta Dream); Diana Taurasi (Phoenix Mercury); Morgan Tuck (Connecticut Sun); Courtney Williams (Connecticut Sun); Sydney Wiese (Los Angeles Sparks); A’ja Wilson (Las Vegas Aces); and Elizabeth Williams (Atlanta Dream).
Members of the USA National Team pool who are participating in the 2018 WNBA Finals will not be available for the beginning of the camp, but may be added at a later date.
Assisting Staley through the World Cup are Dan Hughes (Seattle Storm), Cheryl Reeve (Minnesota Lynx) and Jennifer Rizzotti (George Washington).
As was the case over the past three quadrenniums, the 2018-20 USA National Team roster will be fluid. It is expected that the official, 12-member 2018 USA World Cup and 2020 U.S. Olympic teams, should the USA qualify to compete in Tokyo, will be comprised of players from the 2018-20 USA National Team.
USA Basketball Women’s National Team director Carol Callan chairs the USA Basketball Women’s National Team Player Selection Committee, which includes three-time Olympic and two-time World Cup gold medalist Katie Smith as the athlete representative; representing the WNBA is Connecticut Sun head coach Curt Miller and Los Angeles Sparks general manager Penny Toler; and University of Connecticut head coach Geno Auriemma, who coached USA teams to gold medals at the past two Olympics and FIBA World Cups, serves as a special advisor.
USA Basketball Women’s National Team
Members of the USA Basketball Women’s National Team will compete in the 2018 FIBA World Cup and, if the USA qualifies, the 2020 Summer Olympic Games (July 24-Aug. 9 in Tokyo), as well as additional USA training camps and exhibition games.
The U.S. and Staley first will look to capture the title at the 2018 FIBA Women’s World Cup of Basketball, with an automatic berth to the 2020 Olympic Games being awarded to the gold medalist. Should the U.S. not finish with the gold medal in 2018, it would have two additional opportunities to qualify for the Olympics: the 2019 FIBA AmeriCup (dates and site TBD) and the 2020 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament (dates and site TBD).
FIBA World Cup of Basketball
Winners of back-to-back World Cup titles and four of the past five FIBA World Cups, the USA owns a record nine gold medals, one silver medal and two bronze medals in FIBA World Cup play, while compiling an all-time 103-21 record at the event. In 2014, the most recent World Cup, the U.S. took the gold medal, while Spain captured silver and Australia won bronze.
The USA will compete in preliminary round Group D and will play Senegal on Sept. 22, China on Sept. 23 and Latvia on Sept. 25.
Group A includes Canada, France, Greece and South Korea; Group B is comprised of Argentina, Australia, Nigeria and Turkey; while Group C features Belgium, Japan, Puerto Rico and Spain.
Following the preliminary round, teams will be seeded, and the top team from each group will earn an automatic berth to the quarterfinals, while the No. 2 and No. 3 teams from each group will advance to the Sept. 26 quarterfinals play-in round. From there, winners will compete in the Sept. 28-30 medal round.
