U.S. National Team will complete in Spain, Italy and Czech Republic from Oct. 2-9

ATLANTA (October 1, 2015) – The Atlanta Dream’s Angel McCoughtry is one of the 11 players named to the USA National Team roster for an eight-day European Tour slated for October 2-9 that will see Team USA travel to Spain, Italy and the Czech Republic for training and four exhibition games against top European competition.

McCoughtry, who ranked third among WNBA scoring leaders this season at 20.1 ppg, was a member of the gold-medal winning 2012 U.S. Olympic Team.  During the 2012 London Games, McCoughtry averaged 10.9 ppg and a tournament second-best 2.5 spg.  She led all competitors in the 12-team field for field goal percentage (.620, 31-50).

The USA squad will train Oct. 2-3 in Barcelona, Spain, before taking on professional EuroLeague club Uni Girona on Oct. 4 in Girona, Spain.  Following a final practice in Barcelona, the team will travel to Italy to face the Italian National Team on Oct. 7 in Rome and the Dike Naples professional team on Oct. 8 in Naples. The tour concludes with a game against 2015 EuroLeague champion USK Prague on Oct. 9 in Prague, Czech Republic.

Joining McCoughtry on the 2015 USA Basketball National Team European Tour are: Sue Bird (Seattle Storm), Tina Charles (New York Liberty), Elena Delle Donne (Chicago Sky), Stefanie Dolson (Washington Mystics), Candice Dupree (Phoenix Mercury), Brittney Griner(Phoenix Mercury), Candace Parker (Los Angeles Sparks),Danielle Robinson (San Antonio Stars), Breanna Stewart (University of Connecticut) and Courtney Vandersloot (Chicago Sky).

University of Connecticut head coach Geno Auriemma will lead Team USA and is being assisted through the 2016 Olympic Games by DePaul University’s Doug Bruno, the Minnesota Lynx’ Cheryl Reeve and University of South Carolina’s Dawn Staley.

University of Hartford head coach Jennifer Rizzotti will serve as a court coach during the USA’s European Tour.

Reeve has coached the Minnesota Lynx into the 2015 WNBA Finals and therefore will not be on the sideline during the 2015 European Tour.

The 2016 Olympic Games will be held Aug. 5-21 in Rio de Janeiro. A total of 12 nations will compete in the Olympic women’s basketball competition, including host Brazil and the USA, which earned its berth by virtue of claiming the gold medal at the 2014 FIBA World Championship. Australia (Oceania), Canada (Americas), Japan (Asia) and Serbia (Europe) claimed their respective FIBA zone championship to earn a spot in the Rio field, while the African champion, which will be crowned on Oct. 3, will claim the seventh spot.

The remaining berths will be awarded to the top five finishing teams at the 2016 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament (site TBD, June 13-19, 2016). Qualified for that tournament based on finishes in their respective zone championships are: Argentina, Cuba and Venezuela from the Americas; China and South Korea from Asia; Belarus, France, Spain and Turkey from Europe; New Zealand from Oceania; and the two teams TBD from the AfroBasket Championship (Sept. 24-Oct. 3).

U.S. Olympic women’s basketball teams have earned a record seven gold medals, one silver medal and one bronze medal, and are 58-3 all-time in Olympic competition. The 2016 U.S. team will enter Rio riding a 41-game Olympic winning streak that dates back to the 1992 Barcelona Olympics bronze medal game.

Since the inception of the 1995-96 USA Basketball Women’s National Team program, the USA National Team, in addition to its record five-straight Olympic gold medals, has captured four FIBA World Championship gold medals, one FIBA World Championship bronze medal and one FIBA Americas Championship gold medal, while compiling a remarkable 86-1 record for a .989 winning percentage in those events. Further, USA National Teams in exhibition contests since 1995 boast of a 186-15 record (.925 winning percentage).

The final 12-player 2016 U.S. Olympic Women’s Basketball Team will be selected from the 2015-16 USA National Team pool by the USA Basketball Women’s National Team Player Selection Committee. Chaired by USA Basketball women’s national team director Carol Callan, the committee includes WNBA appointees Reneé Brown, WNBA chief of basketball operations and player relations; Dan Hughes, head coach and general manager of the San Antonio Stars; and Chris Sienko , vice president and general manager of the Connecticut Sun; and three-time Olympic and two-time FIBA World Championship gold medalist Katie Smith, who played in nearly 200 games for USA Basketball from 1993-2008, and serves as the athlete representative.

The three-time Eastern Conference Champion Atlanta Dream is entering its ninth season in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA).

The Dream plays their home games at Philips Arena.  Atlanta has qualified for the playoffs six times, winning conference titles in 2013, 2011 and 2010.