The women’s national basketball team will stop in Foggy Bottom for the final leg of their domestic training tour, according to a release Thursday.
In preparation for the International Basketball Association’s Basketball World Cup, the United States’ team will take on Japan in an exhibition game at 7 p.m. on Sept. 10 at the Smith Center. Head coach Jennifer Rizzotti will be stationed on the sidelines as an assistant coach for the team.
“I look forward to showcasing GW and the Smith Center when Team USA comes to town this September,” Rizzotti said in the release. “We have a storied women’s basketball tradition here, and I am confident that our fans and our community will come out to support the team.”
Rizzotti has coached five USA Basketball teams to gold in her career, according to the release.
Tickets for the game are not yet available, but will go on sale to the public at a “later date,” the release states.
Training camp for the team will begin Sept. 3 in Columbia, S.C., where they will play a scrimmage game on Sept. 5. The team will then travel to Bridgeport, Conn. to face the Canadian National Team on Sept. 7. before arriving in the District.
Following their contest in D.C., the squad will travel to Antibes, France, where they will compete in a four-team tournament from Sept. 15 to 17. The squad will then join 15 other nations in Tenerife, Canary Islands for the 18th Basketball World Cup starting Sept. 22 and will begin play in a pool with Latvia, Senegal and China.
The final 12 members of the World Cup team will be chosen from a 34-player pool that includes recognizable WNBA players like Elena Delle Donne, Skylar Diggins-Smith and Brittney Griner. The American squad is the two-time defending champion at the FIBA World Cup and has taken home four of the last five gold medals.
