Olympic, World Championship Gold Medalists Featured

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (March 6, 2007) — With an eye towards
continued adaptability to the changing women's basketball
environment and building upon the success of the USA Basketball
Women's Senior National Team program, USA Basketball today announced
the 21-member 2007-08 USA Women's Senior National Team.

This group of seasoned veterans and rising stars, headlined by three-
time Olympic gold medalist Sheryl Swoopes (Houston Comets) and two-
time Olympic gold medalist Katie Smith (Detroit Shock), will train
together over the next two years as the U.S. attempts at the 2007
FIBA Americas Championship to qualify for the 2008 Olympic Games and
then defend its three consecutive Olympic gold medal winning streak.
It is expected that players selected to compete on USA Senior
National teams in the 2007 and 2008 international competitions will
come from the USA Basketball Senior National Team pool.

In addition to Smith and Swoopes, included on the USA's deep and
talent-stocked roster are: Seimone Augustus (Minnesota Lynx), Alana
Beard (Washington Mystics), Sue Bird (Seattle Storm), Swin Cash
(Detroit Shock), Tamika Catchings (Indiana Fever), Jessica Davenport
(Ohio State University), Katie Douglas (Connecticut Sun), Cheryl
Ford (Detroit Shock), Sylvia Fowles (Louisiana State University),
Taj McWilliams-Franklin (Los Angeles Sparks), DeLisha Milton-Jones
(Washington Mystics), Deanna Nolan (Detroit Shock), Courtney Paris
(University of Oklahoma), Candace Parker (University of Tennessee),
Cappie Pondexter (Phoenix Mercury), Michelle Snow (Houston Comets),
Diana Taurasi (Phoenix Mercury), Tina Thompson (Houston Comets) and
Lindsay Whalen (Connecticut Sun).

The USA's next chance to qualify for the 2008 Olympics will be at
the 2007 FIBA Americas Championship, slated for Sept. 25-29 in
Valdivia, Chile. The gold medalist at that tournament will earn a
berth to the Beijing Olympic 12-nation field. 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 World Olympic Qualifying Tournament slated for June 9-
15 at a site to be determined.

The complete USA Women's Senior National Team training plans, which
will include domestic and international training camps and
competition through 2008, will be announced at a later date.

Heading the USA Basketball Women's Senior National Team through 2008
is WNBA Seattle Storm head coach and four-time U.S. Olympic Team
member Anne Donovan, who was on the 1980, 1984 and 1988 squads as a
player and was an assistant coach for the 2004 team. She will be
assisted by 2006 WNBA Coach of the Year Mike Thibault of the
Connecticut Sun and collegiate head coaches Gail Goestenkors of Duke
University (N.C.) and Temple University's ( Pa. ) Dawn Staley.

"The parity at the top level of the women's international game is at
an all-time high, and we recognize that our national team program
needs to be adaptable in order to put the U.S. in the best possible
position to re-claim the gold medal in Beijing and beyond," said USA
Basketball President Val Ackerman. "By including a larger number of
players in the program, we hope to create a more competitive
training environment for the team, as well as accelerate the
development of the young players who we will count on to continue
our winning tradition in the future."

"The Committee feels very strongly about this group of players as we
continue to move forward with our USA Senior National Team Program,"
said Committee chair Reneé Brown, WNBA chief of basketball
operations and player relations. "We are not just looking to the
next two years and our goal of reclaiming the gold medal in Beijing,
we also have identified some of the top young candidates who will
take the torch from our veteran leadership, from players like
Sheryl, Katie and Tina, and run with it well into the future. The
Committee feels that this is a very strong mix of players, from the
young up-and-comers to international veterans. If you look back,
that's what USA Basketball has been doing for decades -- the torch
has been passed from Pat Summitt and Anne Donovan to Teresa Edwards
and Katrina McClain. They have lent their leadership to Lisa
(Leslie), Sheryl and Dawn, who are in the process of passing it
along to our next generation of players."

"I think continuity is so important in the development of the USA
Senior National Team," said Donovan. "Although we don't have the
benefits of extensive training as in the past, we are looking to
maximize the time that we are together. By identifying a pool of
players we'll be able to train extensively and evaluate the best fit
for our National Team. The more that our staff and our players are
able to train and play together, the better our USA National Team
will be, come competition time.

"When you look at the make-up of this group, we have a lot of youth.
What a benefit it is for them to be able to train with our veteran
players, to learn from them on the court and off the court."

The USA Senior Team's 21 members own a combined 11 Olympic and eight
World Championship gold medals, as well as numerous medals from
other international competitions as all 21 members have donned a USA
Basketball uniform in the past. The list also includes a pair of USA
Basketball Female Athlete of the Year award winners, including
Augustus (2003) and Taurasi (2006).

All 17 professional players on the roster have been named as a WNBA
All-Star and 14 have earned either All-WNBA first or second team
honors at least once. Bird, Catchings, Smith, Swoopes and Thompson
were named to the WNBA All-Decade Team, while Taurasi was an
honorable mention. Three of the seven WNBA All-Star MVPs are on the
list, including Douglas (2006), Swoopes (2005) and Thompson (2000);
as well as three of the last seven league MVPs in Swoopes (2000,
2002, 2005); five of the last seven WNBA Defensive Players of the
Year in Catchings (2005, 2006) and Swoopes (2000, 2003, 2004); and
three of the last four WNBA Rookies of the Year in Augustus (2006),
Catchings (2002), Ford (2003) and Taurasi (2004).

Each of the four collegiate players were unanimous all-conference
first team selections following the 2006-07 season and have been
mentioned for 2007 National Player of the Year and All-America
honors. Further, Davenport earned her third consecutive Big Ten
Conference Player of the Year award, Paris was named the 2007 Big 12
Conference Player of the Year and Parker collected 2007 Southeastern
Conference Player of the Year honors.

Host China and 2006 FIBA World Championship gold medalist Australia
have earned automatic berths to the 2008 Olympic women's basketball
tournament. Five additional teams will punch their ticket to Beijing
at the 2007 FIBA zone championships as the gold medalists in each of
the FIBA zones (Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania) qualify
to compete in Beijing.

Teams finishing in second, third and fourth place at the 2007 FIBA
Americas tournament will have one final chance to earn a spot in
Beijing's 12-nation field at the 2008 FIBA Olympic Qualifying
Tournament. Those three nations along with nine other national teams
from around the globe who did not claim gold at the remaining FIBA
zones, including two from Africa (silver and bronze medalists), two
from Asia (silver and bronze medalists), four from Europe (second
through fourth place finishers) and one from Oceania (silver
medalist), will compete for the final five Olympic slots at the 2008
FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

The USA Basketball Women's Senior National Team program has evolved
over the past decade ever since the historic 11-member 1995-96 USA
Senior National Team spent 10 months traveling the globe in
preparation for the 1996 Olympic Games. The program is a proven
success. Since the '95-96 team took to the court in Oct. 1995, USA
senior teams have compiled a 144-9 (.941) exhibition slate, hauled
in three Olympic (1996, 2000, 2004) and two World Championship
(1998, 2002) gold medals, one World Championship bronze (2006), and
claimed an overall Olympics and Worlds record of 50-1 (.980).

In addition to Brown, the USA Basketball Women's Senior National
Team Committee is comprised of athlete representatives Jennifer
Azzi, a 1996 Olympic gold medalist and two-time World Championship
gold medalist, and five-time Olympian Teresa Edwards; representing
the NCAA is University of Tennessee head coach Pat Summitt; and
appointed by the WNBA are New York Liberty vice president and
general manager Carol Blazejowski, Indiana Fever chief operating
officer and general manager Kelly Krauskopf, Minnesota Lynx chief
operating officer Roger Griffith and Los Angeles Sparks general
manager Penny Toler.

2007-08 USA Baskettball Women's Senior National Team Members' Major
International Event History:

Olympic gold medalists: Bird (2004), Cash (2004), Catchings (2004),
Milton-Jones (2000), Smith (2000, 2004), Swoopes (1996, 2000, 2004),
Thompson (2004), Taurasi (2004).

FIBA World Championship gold medalists: Bird (2002), Catchings
(2002), McWilliams-Franklin (1998), Milton-Jones (1998, 2002), Smith
(1998, 2002), Swoopes (2002).

FIBA World Championship bronze medalists: Augustus (2006), Beard
(2006), Bird (2006), Catchings (2006), Ford (2006), Milton-Jones
(2006), Parker (2006), Smith (2006), Snow (2006), Swoopes (2006),
Thompson (2006), Taurasi (2006).

FIBA U21 World Championship gold medalists: Augustus
(2003/tournament MVP), Beard (2003/all-tournament), Pondexter
(2003), Whalen (2003).

FIBA U19 World Championship gold medalists: Catchings (1997), Paris
(2005).

FIBA U19 World Championship bronze medalists: Beard (2001/all-
tournament), Pondexter (2001), Taurasi (2001/all-tournament).

FIBA Americas U20 Championship gold medalists: Beard (2002), Paris
(2006), Pondexter (2002), Whalen (2002).

FIBA Americas U18 Championship gold medalists: Beard (2000), Paris
(2004), Parker (2004), Pondexter (2000), Taurasi (2000).

FIBA Americas U18 Championship silver medalist: Catchings (1996).

Basketball Female Athlete of the Year: Augustus (2003), Taurasi
(2006).