VIA USA BASKETBALL

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado (Jan. 27, 2022) – Seventeen athletes, including nine who have claimed a combined 19 Olympic and FIBA World Cup gold medals, are expected to participate in the 2022 USA Basketball Women’s National Team training camp from Feb. 5-7 in Washington, D.C. Following the training camp, 12 athletes will remain to compete in the FIBA World Cup Qualifying Tournament from Feb. 10-12 against Belgium and Puerto Rico at the Entertainment and Sports Arena.

Athletes expected to attend the training camp include: Ariel Atkins (Washington Mystics); Elena Delle Donne (Washington Mystics); Stephanie Dolson (Chicago Sky); 2021 USA Basketball 3×3 Athlete of the Year Allisha Gray (Dallas Wings); Chelsea Gray (Las Vegas Aces); Dearica Hamby (Las Vegas Aces); Natasha Howard (New York Liberty); Sabrina Ionescu (New York Liberty); Brionna Jones (Connecticut Sun); Betnijah Laney (New York Liberty); Jewell Loyd (Seattle Storm); Kayla McBride (Minnesota Lynx); Angel McCoughtry (Las Vegas Aces); Kelsey Mitchell (Indiana Fever); Kelsey Plum (Las Vegas Aces); three-time USA Basketball Female Athlete of the Year Breanna Stewart (Seattle Storm); and Alyssa Thomas (Connecticut Sun).

Puerto Rico will play Belgium on Feb. 10; the Feb. 11 contest features the USA against Belgium; and the tournament concludes with a USA versus Puerto Rico clash on Feb. 12. Tickets for all games range from $10 (plus Ticketmaster fees) for general admission to $100 (plus Ticketmaster fees) for courtside seating and are on sale now via Ticketmaster.com and USAB.com/tickets. Fans are able to save 25% in an early bird discount through Feb. 1 by purchasing tickets online for any of the five games by using promo code “FIBA22” at checkout.

“I’m excited for next month’s camp,” said 2021-24 USA National Team head coach Cheryl Reeve (Minnesota Lynx). “We will have an incredible mix of veterans and USA National Team newcomers, which will be a great starting point for our preparations for the FIBA World Cup. The training camp and games against two very different opponents will give the staff an opportunity to put in the building blocks for the next few years as we look to not only win the World Cup gold medal but qualify for the 2024 Olympic Games.”

Atkins (2020), Delle Donne (2016), Dolson (2020 3×3), Allisha Gray (2020 3×3), Chelsea Gray (2020), Loyd (2020), McCoughtry (2012, 2016), Plum (2020 3×3) and Stewart (2016, 2020) all are Olympic gold medalists. Athletes who have claimed at least one FIBA World Cup gold medal include Delle Donne (2018), Loyd (2018, 2014 3×3), McCoughtry (2010, 2014), Plum (2018) and Stewart (2014, 2018), who was the 2018 World Cup MVP.

The remaining seven returning athletes with USA Basketball experience include Howard, Ionescu, Jones, Laney, McBride and Mitchell, all of whom have played games in a USA Basketball uniform, and Thomas, who participated in a prior USA National Team minicamp. This will mark Hamby’s first experience with USA Basketball.

In addition to the 19 Olympic and FIBA World Cup gold medals, the 15 athletes who have competed for USA Basketball earned 21 gold medals and one silver medal at additional international events.

Delle Donne, Ionescu, Laney and Stewart will attend the USA’s training camp but will not participate in the tournament.

WNBA head coaches Vickie Johnson (Dallas Wings), Curt Miller (Connecticut Sun), Mike Thibault (Washington Mystics) and James Wade (Chicago Sky) will support Reeve at the training camp and FIBA World Cup Qualifying Tournament in Washington, D.C. All four will serve as court coaches during the camp, and Johnson and Thibault will assist on the bench during the tournament, while Miller and Wade will continue as court coaches and team scouts.

The February 2022 USA National Team training camp roster was selected by the USA Basketball Women’s National Team Committee, chaired by Connecticut Sun president and 2018-21 USA National Team assistant coach Jennifer Rizzotti. The committee includes Olympic and World Cup gold medalists Seimone Augustus and DeLisha Milton-Jones, 2017-21 USA National Team head coach Dawn Staley and WNBA head of league operations Bethany Donaphin.

FIBA Women’s World Cup Qualifying Tournament
A total of 16 nations will compete in the four FIBA World Cup Qualifying Tournaments. The top three finishing teams in each of the four qualifying tournaments will advance to the 2022 FIBA World Cup, which will be held Sept. 22-Oct. 1 in Sydney, Australia. Should Australia and/or the U.S., which already are qualified for the World Cup as the host nation and 2020 Olympic gold medalist, respectively, not finish among the top three teams in their respective tournaments, only the top two teams from those groups, plus the U.S. and/or Australia will advance to compete in the FIBA World Cup.

Competing in the Belgrade, Serbia, Group A are Australia, Brazil, Serbia and South Korea; Belgrade Group B consists of China, France, Mali and Nigeria; and competing in Osaka, Japan, will be Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada and Japan.

Russia, which was originally scheduled to play in the four-team group in Washington, D.C., will instead compete against Belgium and Puerto Rico in the Dominican Republic, and will not play against the United States.