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March 3, 2010

Louisville, Ky. - Former Louisville All-American Angel McCoughtry was one of 12 players added to the 2010-12 USA Basketball Women's National Team roster, USA Basketball announced today. The 12 athletes bring the pool of players up to 20 from which the 2010 USA World Championship Team, should the USA qualify, and the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team will be selected.

The other 12 players selected were Alana Beard (Washington Mystics), Swin Cash (Seattle Storm), Tina Charles (University of Connecticut), Shameka Christon (New York Liberty), Candice Dupree (Chicago Sky), Lindsey Harding (Washington Mystics), Asjha Jones (Connecticut Sun), Renee Montgomery (Connecticut Sun), Maya Moore (University of Connecticut), Lindsay Whalen (Minnesota Lynx) and Candice Wiggins (Minnesota Lynx). Player selections were made by the five member USA Basketball Women's National Team Player Selection Committee.

"I'm excited because it's a great mixture of veterans, young players, players who are versatile enough to give us an awful lot of options as to how we want to play," said Geno Auriemma, USA National Team and University of Connecticut head coach. "Certainly we take into consideration winning and all of these players are winners. They've been on winning programs all their lives. I'm anxious to get to work with them and anxious to mix them in with the group that was announced earlier. I'm thrilled with the make-up of the group. We have the best players in the world and this is just another example of how deep the pool is that the U.S. can draw from.

"The first group is obviously so experienced and so used to winning, having been in the Olympics and having won a gold medal. This next group represents an opportunity for us, not only to continue to build a stronger USA National Team for this coming World Championship and beyond, but it will help us identify who that next core group may be going forward."

The athletes join previously announced USA National Team members and two-time Olympic gold medalists Sue Bird (Seattle Storm), Tamika Catchings (Indiana Fever) and Diana Taurasi (Phoenix Mercury); as well as '08 gold medalists Seimone Augustus (Minnesota Lynx), Sylvia Fowles (Chicago Sky), Kara Lawson (Connecticut Sun), Candace Parker (Los Angeles Sparks) and Cappie Pondexter (Phoenix Mercury).

Among the additions are two USA Basketball honorees. Charles and Wiggins were the 2009 and 2007 USA Basketball Female Athlete of the Year, respectively, after helping U.S. teams earn two gold medals each. Charles in 2009 collected gold with the USA World University Games Team and earned her second gold of the year as the only collegian on the USA National Team in the UMMC Ekaterinburg International Invitational. Wiggins in 2007 helped USA teams earn gold at the FIBA U21 World Championship and Pan American Games and was an alternate on the USA National Team that competed in the FIBA Americas Championship.

Including the 2004 Olympic gold medal earned by Cash and the 2006 FIBA World Championship bronze medal earned by Beard, the 12 additions to the USA National Team boast of a combined 32 gold medals, three silver medals and three bronze medals. Some of those gold medals include the 2007 FIBA Americas Championship (Cash); FIBA U21 World Championship (Beard, Whalen - 2003 / Wiggins - 2007); FIBA U19 World Championship (Wiggins - 2005 / Moore - 2007); 2007 Pan American Games (McCoughtry, Wiggins); FIBA Americas U20 Championship (Christon, Whalen - 2002 / Montgomery - 2006); and the FIBA Americas U18 Championship (Beard - 2000 / Wiggins - 2004 / Charles, Moore - 2006).

The U.S. will look to capture the title at the 2010 FIBA World Championship that will be held Sept. 23 - Oct. 3 in Brno, Karlovy Vary and Ostrava, Czech Republic, with the gold medal winner earning a berth to the 2012 Olympic Games.

Sixteen nations have qualified to compete in the FIBA World Championship. The USA has been placed in Group B, and will face France, Greece and Senegal in the first round of games. The 12 remaining national teams were distributed as such: Group A includes Australia, Belarus, Canada and China; Group C consists of Brazil, Mali, South Korea and Spain; and Group D is comprised of Argentina, Czech Republic, Japan and Russia.

The preliminary round will be played Sept. 23-25 utilizing a round-robin format within each preliminary round group. The top three finishing teams from each group will advance to second round play, with the top teams in Groups A and B merging into Group E and the top teams in Groups C and D forming Group F. The twelve teams qualified for the second round, which will be played Sept. 27-29, will feature six teams in each group and each team will play the three new teams in its second round group. Teams finishing in first through fourth places in the second round will advance to the Oct. 1 quarterfinals. Semifinals are slated for Oct. 2, and the finals will be contested on Oct. 3.

First and second round games for Groups A and B will be held in Ostrova, while Brno is the first and second round site for teams in Groups C and D. The quarterfinals, semifinals and finals will be held in Karlovy Vary.

Should the U.S. not finish with the gold medal in `10, it would have two additional chances to qualify for the Olympics: the 2011 FIBA Americas Olympic Qualifying Tournament (dates and site TBD) and 2012 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament (dates and site TBD).

The USA Basketball Women's National Team Player Selection Committee is comprised of WNBA representatives Reneé Brown, Chief of Basketball Operations and Player Relations; Dan Hughes, General Manager of the San Antonio Silver Stars; and Chief Operating Officer/General Manager of the Indiana Fever Kelly Krauskopf; athlete representative and five-time Olympian Teresa Edwards; and USA Basketball Women's National Team Director Carol Callan.

Q & A with McCoughtry over her latest Accomplishment

Q: What does it mean for you to be named as a member of the USA Basketball Women's National Team?

A: First, it's a great honor to represent the United States with some of the most talented athletes in the world, and to be coached by some of the greatest coaches for women's basketball today. It means everything and it's a charge that I do not take for granted.

Q: What do you think you bring to the team - what are your strengths?

A: I bring to the USA team the attitude of TEAM. Together we are the best! My strengths are to continue to work hard defensively and the offense will come to you. I also have a competitive nature that drives me to win.

Q: Do you think your international experience, both with USA Basketball and this season in Slovakia helped with your selection?

A:I believe being a part of the USA team and my international experience in Slovakia helped my resume for the USA Basketball Women's National Team. I'm striving to be the best wherever I'm playing, and I try to give my all when I'm playing basketball. It's what I have a passion for and I love playing.

Release provided by USA Basketball