The game will serve as a final send-off before the U.S. goes for the gold at the Summer Olympic Games in Athens. ESPN will televise the game nationally beginning at 7 p.m.
Detroit Shock Head Coach Bill Laimbeer and his assistants will serve as coaching staff for the WNBA All-Star Team. Starters for the WNBA team will be chosen by a 51-member media panel (three local media members from each of the WNBA�s 13 markets, together with 12 national media members) and will be announced on-air at halftime of ESPN2�s coverage of Detroit at Houston on July 15. WNBA head coaches will select the first five reserves, who will be announced on-air at halftime of ESPN2�s coverage of the Minnesota at Connecticut game on July 22. The final reserve will be selected by WNBA fans via on-line balloting on WNBA.com and will be announced on air at halftime of the Los Angeles at Sacramento game on July 29 on ESPN2.
The USA Basketball Women's Senior National Team Committee has named 11 players to the U.S. roster, with one spot left to fill. The current roster is comprised of Sue Bird (Seattle Storm), Swin Cash (Detroit Shock), Tamika Catchings (Indiana Fever), Shannon Johnson (San Antonio Silver Stars), Lisa Leslie (Los Angeles Sparks), DeLisha Milton-Jones (Los Angeles Sparks), Katie Smith (Minnesota Lynx), Dawn Staley (Charlotte Sting), Sheryl Swoopes (Houston), Diana Taurasi (Phoenix Mercury) and Tina Thompson (Houston Comets).
The head coach of the U.S. team is Houston Comets Head Coach Van Chancellor. He will be joined on the sidelines by Seattle Storm Head Coach Anne Donovan, Duke Head Coach Gail Goestenkors and Rutgers Head Coach C. Vivian Stringer.
The U.S. capped a successful spring training schedule with an unblemished 13-0 record in its early preparations for Athens. Featuring three separate training sessions, the USA's competition ranged from national and professional club teams to the 2004 WBCA All-Star Team, with games played in six international arenas and four domestic cities.
The WNBA began its much-anticipated eighth season with ratings for ABC�s first three telecasts up 29 percent from a year ago. The season-opening telecast featuring the Phoenix Mercury at the Connecticut Sun was the highest rated WNBA game (regular season or playoffs) ever on ABC. WNBA.com also enjoyed a record-setting opening weekend with more than 2.5 million page views and 300,000 total visits to start the 2004 WNBA season. This season is expected to be the league�s most competitive in terms of the level of talent, the intensity of match-ups and the overall action on the court.
