USA Basketball announced Wednesday that Sparks forward Nneka Ogwumike will be one of the 12 players to represent the United States in the 2018 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup in Tenerife, Spain. The official roster was announced after the team played their final scrimmage against Australia, a 70-60 victory.
The 2016 WNBA MVP Ogwumike was a member of the 2014 World Cup team team that took the gold medal in Turkey. The 28-year-old averaged 15.5 points and 6.8 rebounds per game in 2018 for the Sparks. Ogwumike also earned the 2018 WNBA Community Assist Award, an honor that recognizes exceptional service work.
Joining Ogwumike will be Diana Taurasi and Brittney Griner from the Phoenix Mercury, Sue Bird, Breanna Stewart and Jewell Loyd from the Seattle Storm, Elena Delle Donne (Washington Mystics), Tina Charles (New York Liberty), Layshia Clarendon and Morgan Tuck from the Connecticut Sun and Kelsey Plum and A’ja Wilson from the Las Vegas Aces. The team is coached by University of South Carolina head women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley with assistants Cheryl Reeve (Minnesota Lynx), Dan Hughes (Seattle Storm) and Jennifer Rizzotti (George Washington University).
The United States begins pool play this Saturday, Sept. 22 against Senegal and then plays Sunday, Sept. 23 and Tuesday, Sept. 25 against China and Latvia, respectively. All three games are at 10 a.m. PT and will be televised on ESPN+. The gold medal game will take place Sunday, Sept. 30 at noon PT.
