University of North Carolina Athletics
USA Basketball Squad To Practice At UNC
August 7, 2006 | Women's Basketball
Aug. 7, 2006
The USA Basketball Women's World Championship Team will hold an open practice at Carmichael Auditorium later this month during a 10-day training camp in the Triangle Area. The squad, which will be beginning its final push toward defending its title at the FIBA World Championship, will practice at UNC on Aug. 31. The workout begins at 6 p.m.
The team will train in the area from Aug. 29 to Sept. 7. In addition to the open practice at UNC, the U.S. squad will hold open practices at NC State on Aug. 30 and at Duke on Sept. 3 and will play an exhibition game against Australia at Duke on Sept. 7.
The practices are free and open to the public. Tickets to the exhibition game are available through the Duke website at www.goduke.com.
"USA Basketball is excited once again to train and compete in the Raleigh-Durham area," said USA Basketball President Val Ackerman. "Duke was an excellent host to our 1999-2000 USA Basketball Women's Senior National Team and we are happy to return to Cameron Indoor Stadium for the Sept. 7 clash with Australia. In addition to the game, which should be a great competition for the area's basketball fans to watch, USA Basketball has partnered with the women's basketball programs at Duke, North Carolina and North Carolina State, all three of which have a strong history with USA Basketball, in hosting open practices for local fans. We appreciate the warm welcome Raleigh-Durham is extending to us and look forward to a productive training camp before the team heads to Brazil."
The 2006 FIBA World Championship is scheduled for Sept. 12-23 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The U.S. is 80-20 all-time at the World Championship and is the defending champion. Anne Donovan, coach of the WNBA's Seattle Storm, will serve as the team's head coach, assisted by Gail Goestenkors (Duke), Dawn Staley (Temple) and Mike Thibault (Connecticut Sun of the WNBA). The team includes Seimone Augustus, Alana Beard, Sue Byrd, Tamika Catchings, Yolanda Griffith, Lisa Leslie, DeLisha Milton-Jones, Katie Smith, Sheryl Swoopes, Diana Taurasi and Tina Thompson, with one roster spot still remaining.
"Getting started in North Carolina means we're just that much closer to the World Championship and that makes me very excited," Donovan said. "It seems like such a long way away with so much of the WNBA season yet to be played. But when I think of the World Championship and that training period and the incredibly talented team that we have, I get very excited.
"The game against Australia, that's one of the teams we'll be contending with in the medal run, so fans will get to see the Australian team and our team coming together before the Worlds. It will be a very competitive game, as it always is when we play against Australia. In the open practices the fans will also get to see these elite players at their best, which is in practice, working hard, gelling together and being on the court at the same time. It's going to be very competitive, our practices are as competitive as any game so it should be very fun to watch."
