Jones and Charles Selected To Represent USA At 2010 FIBA World Championship

Ostrava, Czech Republic – Connecticut Sun stars Asjha Jones and Tina Charles were among the 12 players chosen to represent USA Basketball at the 2010 FIBA World Championship, which will be held in Ostrava from Sept. 23 through October 3rd in the Czech Republic.

Charles and Jones join Sue Bird, Tamika Catchings, Diana Taurasi, Sylvia Fowles, Swin Cash, Jayne Appel, Candice Dupree, Angel McCoughtry, Maya Moore and Lindsay Whalen on the team.

“The process has been unbelievably difficult. It’s taken a lot out of us, the committee, coaches, staff,” said USA and UConn head coach Geno Auriemma in an interview with USA Basketball. “It was probably the most difficult time that I’ve had as a coach in 35 years. When you have to say goodbye to players as committed to USA Basketball as Kara (Lawson) and Seimone (Augustus) have been, it’s very, very, very difficult. But there’s so much uncertainty in our post players position that we had to make some very difficult decisions. I think the team that was picked is a terrific team. It’s a terrific group of kids and the next nine games will give us an opportunity to prove that.”

Lawson and fellow Sun guard Renee Montgomery were in the original group of USA National Team candidates who began training together earlier in September.

Charles, the 2009 USA Basketball Female Athlete of the Year, and Jones both won gold medals with the Senior National Team at the 2009 UMMC Ekaterinburg International Invitational. Charles also captured a bronze medal at the 2005 Youth Development Festival.

“Players not selected have been and remain a vital part of the USA National Team program, and we appreciate the effort they gave throughout our training camps in helping USA prepare for this important competition,” USA Basketball Women’s National Team Director and USA Selection Committee member Carol Callan told USA Basketball. “Again, it was not an easy decision to make. Any combination of the 14 finalists would make a formidable team, which is why this was such a tough decision to make.”

The USA opens World Championship play against Greece on September 23rd at 12 p.m. ET, and all of USA’s games will air live on NBA TV. The United States faces Senegal on Sept. 24th, and will close out the preliminary round against France on Saturday. Fans can also watch live streaming of all FIBA World Championship games at www.FIBATV.com.

Should the U.S. finish among the top three in its preliminary round group, they will remain in Ostrava to play the top three finishers from Pool A, which includes defending world champion Australia, along with Belarus, Canada and China. Those games will be contested from Sept. 27-29. The medal round will begin in Karlovy Vary, with the quarterfinals scheduled for Oct. 1st, the semifinals on Oct. 2nd and the medal games on Oct. 3rd.

For more on the USA Basketball World Championship Team, go to