COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – A total of 19 members of the 2018-20 USA Basketball Women’s National Team athlete pool, including three members of the Seattle Storm, are expected to participate in the USA Women’s National Team’s April 24-26 camp in Seattle.

The three-day camp will culminate with an exhibition contest against the China National Team April 26 in Seattle’s KeyArena. The final USA roster for the exhibition game will be comprised of athletes participating in the training camp and will be announced on April 25.

Tickets for the game, which will tip-off at 7 p.m. (all times listed are PDT) and are available via StormBasketball.com or by calling the Storm at 206-217-9622.

“I’m excited to have this group of players joining us in camp in a couple of weeks,” said Dawn Staley, USA National Team and University of South Carolina head coach. “I look forward to working with them and gaining some more chemistry with both players and staff, now that we have a staff in place. We can get a lot more done and really focus on in-game situations, especially with the exhibition against China at the end of camp.”

Prior to its April 26 game, the USA will train at 10 a.m. April 24 and 11 a.m. April 25 at Seattle Pacific University.

The Seattle training camp will mark the third in the USA’s preparations for the 2018 FIBA World Cup, which will be held Sept. 22-30 in Tenerife, Spain. Members of the national team first gathered Sept. 30-Oct. 2, 2017, in Santa Barbara, California, and concluded a Feb. 9-11, 2018, camp at the University of South Carolina.

The 19 athletes expected to participate in the Seattle camp include: Seimone Augustus (Minnesota Lynx); Sue Bird (Seattle Storm); Layshia Clarendon (Atlanta Dream); Napheesa Collier (University of Connecticut); Elena Delle Donne (Washington Mystics); Skylar Diggins-Smith (Dallas Wings); Stefanie Dolson (Chicago Sky); Sylvia Fowles (Minnesota Lynx); Allisha Gray (Dallas Wings); Tiffany Hayes (Atlanta Dream); Jewell Loyd (Seattle Storm); Kelsey Mitchell (Indiana Fever); Tiffany Mitchell (Indiana Fever); Breanna Stewart (Seattle Storm); Brittney Sykes (Atlanta Dream); Diana Taurasi (Phoenix Mercury); Morgan Tuck (Connecticut Sun); Sydney Wiese (Los Angeles Sparks); and Elizabeth Williams (Atlanta Dream).

Listed among the April training camp roster are seven Olympic and FIBA World Cup gold medalists, including Bird, who tops the list with four Olympic gold medals, three World Cup golds and one World Cup bronze medals. Taurasi also owns four Olympic golds and has two World Cup gold medals and one World Cup bronze. Augustus and Fowles won three Olympic golds apiece, both have one World Cup gold medal and Augustus also has a World Cup bronze medal. Charles is a two-time Olympic and two-time World Cup gold medalist, Stewart won gold at the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics and Delle Donne earned Olympic gold in 2016.

Members of the USA National Team pool who are unable to participate in camp due to injury or other commitments are: Tina Charles (New York Liberty); Asia Durr (University of Louisville); Chelsea Gray (Los Angeles Sparks); Brittney Griner (Phoenix Mercury); Jantel Lavender (Los Angeles Sparks); Kayla McBride (Las Vegas Aces); Angel McCoughtry (Atlanta Dream); 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); Courtney Williams (Connecticut Sun); and A’ja Wilson (Las Vegas Aces).

Assisting Staley and the USA National Team through the 2018 FIBA World Cup are a trio of head coaches, 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

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).

2018 FIBA World Cup

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.

About USA Basketball

Based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and chaired by retired Gen. Martin Dempsey, USA Basketball is a nonprofit organization and the national governing body for basketball in the United States. As the recognized governing body for basketball in the U.S. by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), USA Basketball is responsible for the selection, training and fielding of USA national teams that compete in FIBA-sponsored five-on-five and 3×3 international competitions, as well as for some national competitions and for the development of youth basketball.

The USA Basketball Youth Development division is tasked with the development of youth basketball initiatives that address player development, coach education and safety, while promoting, growing, and elevating the game. USA Basketball is committed to providing youth throughout the country safe, fun and developmentally appropriate environments in which they can enjoy the game. Current USA Basketball youth initiatives include coach licensing and education; organization accreditation; coach academies; regional camps; youth clinics; open court programs; Women in the Game conferences; and the U.S. Open Basketball Championships.

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