Thirteen finalists remain for 2014 USA Basketball World Championship Team roster

After posting a 3-1 record in an exhibition series that was preceded by a week-long domestic training camp, 13 finalists now remain for one of 12 spots on the 2014 USA Basketball Women’s World Championship Team. The U.S. began training camp on Sept. 8 with 24 athletes under consideration for the team, and as of Sept. 18, 16 players remained in contention. All selections were made by the USA Basketball Women’s National Team Player Selection Committee, chaired by USA Basketball women’s national team director Carol Callan.

The FIBA World Championship will be held Sept. 27-Oct. 5 in Ankara and Istanbul, Turkey.

The 13 finalists for the 2014 USA World Championship Team, which will be pared to 12 by Sept. 26, include:

• Seimone Augustus (Minnesota Lynx)
• Sue Bird (Seattle Storm)
• Tina Charles (New York Liberty)
• Candice Dupree (Phoenix Mercury)
• Brittney Griner (Phoenix Mercury)
• Jantel Lavender (Los Angeles Sparks)
• Angel McCoughtry (Atlanta Dream)
• Maya Moore (Minnesota Lynx)
• Nnemkadi Ogwumike (Los Angeles Sparks)
• Odyssey Sims (Tulsa Shock)
• Breanna Stewart (University of Connecticut)
• Diana Taurasi (Phoenix Mercury)
• Lindsay Whalen (Minnesota Lynx)

Players that traveled with the team to Europe but not on the finalist list include Stefanie Dolson (Washington Mystics), Skylar Diggins (Tulsa Shock) and Kayla McBride (San Antonio Stars).

“This was a very difficult decision,” said Callan. “Given the quality and depth of our USA National Team pool, the final decisions will always be tough. But, our future is bright knowing that these players have a hunger and desire to continue to get better and be a part of our pool. We look forward to seeing them at future camps. We certainly appreciate all that they have given and will continue to give to USA Basketball.”

“We’ve been trying to put everything together while using 15 players and that’s not ideal,” said USA head coach Geno Auriemma (University of Connecticut). “We haven’t been able to put enough time into one unit and get some kind of rotation down, and that’s all right. We’ve been trying to give everybody a fair chance to make the team and show what they can do. But we are down to 12 for the game in Prague, and that will tell us a lot more about what this team is. Then obviously we’ll have a couple of practices when we get to Istanbul that will be big as well. Slowly but surely we’re getting to where the team is, but it’s not been easy.

“The entire group was really, really good to be around. They really did everything we asked them to do. This is not an easy selection process. It’s not easy on the committee, I’m sure. It’s not easy on the coaches to work with that. The players that are not going to be with us in Prague are all young. They’re young pros with not a lot of international experience and they’re all playing positions that are difficult to crack into the lineup. There was no case of not being good enough or not being able to be on the team. It’s just a matter of the experience factor for a lot of them, what fits best on this particular team with this particular group of players. I can’t find anything to complain about from the time we got together in Annapolis to today. It’s all been exactly what we wanted them to do and how we wanted them to do it. Every one of those players that weren’t chosen will be a huge part of USA Basketball going forward. It’s just like so many before them, this is not the right time.”

The USA National Team defeated Canada 76-51 in Bridgeport, Connecticut, then went 2-1 in the 2014 France International Tournament in Paris after taking down Australia (1-2) 72-66 on Sept. 19, China (1-2) 99-75 on Sept. 20, before falling to host France (2-1) 76-72 on Sept. 21.

With the exception of Griner, who is expected to join the team in Istanbul on Sept. 24, the 12 remaining finalists will head to Prague, Czech Republic, for an exhibition game against Czech Republic on Sept. 23 (1 p.m. EDT) at Tipsport Arena, before traveling to Istanbul for their final pre-World Championship preparations.