The USA Basketball Women’s National Team’s next two games against collegiate opponents, Jan. 27 at the University of Connecticut at 7 p.m. EST on ESPN2 and Feb. 2 at the University of Louisville at 2 p.m. EST on ESPN, will mark a homecoming for five athletes who will play against their former college teams.
Returning to play against UConn will be former Husky All-Americans Sue Bird (Seattle Storm), Tina Charles (New York Liberty), Breanna Stewart (Seattle Storm) and Diana Taurasi (Phoenix Mercury); and Angel McCoughtry (Atlanta Dream), an All-American while playing for Louisville, will suit up against her former team.
Bird, Stewart, and Taurasi will compete in both games, while Charles is available only for the Connecticut game and McCoughtry is available only for the Louisville contest.
Fans at both games will be treated to an all-star line-up as the roster for both collegiate match-ups will be rounded out by Layshia Clarendon (Connecticut Sun/California), Skylar Diggins-Smith (Dallas Wings/Notre Dame), Sylvia Fowles (Minnesota Lynx/Louisiana State), Chelsea Gray (Los Angeles Sparks/Duke), Kayla McBride (Las Vegas Aces/Notre Dame), Nneka Ogwumike (Los Angeles Sparks/Stanford), Kelsey Plum (Las Vegas Aces/Washington) and A’ja Wilson (Las Vegas Aces/South Carolina).
Tickets for both games are on sale now and ticketing information can be found at usab.com/tickets.
Following the exhibitions at Connecticut and Louisville, the USA will continue preparations in its quest for a seventh-straight Olympic gold medal as participants in the 2020 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament, Feb. 6-9.
The U.S. was drawn into the Belgrade, Serbia, group and will face host Serbia on Feb. 6, followed by Mozambique on Feb. 8 and Nigeria on Feb. 9. The top two finishing teams, aside from the Americans who have already earned a spot in the 2020 Olympic women’s basketball field, will earn an Olympic berth.
Competing in the games in Serbia will be Bird, Diamond DeShields (Chicago Sky/Tennessee), Diggins-Smith, Fowles, Gray, Brittney Griner (Phoenix Mercury/Baylor), Jewell Loyd (Seattle Storm/Notre Dame), Ogwumike, Stewart, Taurasi, and Wilson.
Dan Hughes (Seattle Storm), Cheryl Reeve (Minnesota Lynx) and Jennifer Rizzotti (George Washington), who assisted the USA to a gold medal at the 2018 FIBA World Cup and the 2019 FIBA AmeriCup, are serving as the 2019-20 USA National Team assistant coaches.