Temple University Athletics
Temple's Liacouras Center To Host the United States Women's Basketball Team Training Camp
7.20.07 | Women's Basketball
July 20, 2007
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO.-Temple's Liacouras Center will play host to the United States Women's Basketball Olympic Team, September 13-14, as the squad readies for the 2007 FIBA World Championships, slated for Chile, September 23-30. Owl head coach and three-time Olympic gold medalist Dawn Staley currently serves as an assistant coach for the Senior Women's National Team. All practices are closed to the public.
"I think this will be a great opportunity for Temple to see our USA National Team play on our campus, and maybe the high-quality level of play from the USA team will leave an impression on the Temple players," said Staley. "I think this would be an incredible thing for me as well. It would allow me to do my duties at Temple during a time when I'm usually in some other country or city working from afar, and also to assist Anne [Donovan] and our U.S. National Team while we prepare for the qualifying tournament that could be our ticket to the Olympics."
Immediately following training camp in Philadelphia, the team will take on the Australian National Team in an exhibition match-up on September 16 at Trenton, N.J.'s Sovereign Bank Arena. The exhibition between 2004 Olympic gold medalist USA and 2006 World Champion Australia is slated to tip-off at 1:00 p.m.
The 2007-08 USA Basketball Women's Senior National Team, boasts 22 players including eight Olympic gold medalists, six World Championship gold medalists and all 12 members of the bronze medalist 2006 USA World Championship Team. The roster includes: Sheryl Swoopes, Katie Smith, Sue Bird, Swin Cash, Tamika Catchings, Diana Taurasi, Tina Thompson, DeLisha Milton-Jones, Taj McWilliams-Franklin, Seimone Augustus, Alana Beard, Cheryl Ford, Candace Parker, Michelle Snow, Jessica Davenport, Katie Douglas, Sylvia Fowles, Lindsey Harding, Deanna Nolan, Courtney Paris, Cappie Pondexter and Lindsay Whalen.
Following the WNBA season, the USA Women's Senior National Team will reconvene Sept. 7 in New York to begin preparing for the FIBA Championships, the winner of which will receive a berth in the 2008 Olympics. In addition to the USA, teams participating in the 2007 FIBA Americas Championship will be Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Cuba, Jamaica and Mexico. Should the United States not return home from Chile with the gold medal, there will be one final chance to qualify for the Olympics at the 2008 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament slated for June 9-15 at a site TBD.
Staley is joined by Seattle Storm and National Team head coach Anne Donovan, 2006 WNBA Coach of the Year Mike Thibault of the Connecticut Sun and University of Texas head coach Gail Goestenkors.
