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UConn, Louisville added to Team USA college tour for 2020

The United States Women’s National Team will play at least two more college tour games. In early 2020, they will face UConn and Louisville.

By Christine M. Hopkins

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2019 USA Women’s National Team Camp
Sue Bird, UConn head coach Geno Auriemma and Diana Taurasi look on during a national team camp in September. UConn alums Bird and Taurasi will face Auriemma’s Huskies with Team USA on Jan. 27, 2020.
Photo by Issac Baldizon/NBAE via Getty Images

USA Basketball announced Wednesday that the United States Women’s National Team college tour will continue in 2020 with stops at No. 5 UConn, No. 9 Louisville and possibly at a third school.

The Jan. 27 game will be Team USA’s third meeting with UConn. They also faced the Huskies on their 1995 and 2007 college tours.

“Playing UConn, playing in front of their crowd and knowing that [UConn head coach] Geno [Auriemma] has so much experience internationally, to see him pick us apart a little bit will allow us to grow,” said national team head coach Dawn Staley.

Auriemma coached Team USA to World Championship titles in 2010 and 2014 and to gold medals at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics.

Notably, the game against UConn will mark the return of at least two Husky alums to their alma mater: Diana Taurasi and Sue Bird.

On Feb. 2, the United States will face Louisville for the first time.

Two Louisville alums, Asia Durr and Angel McCoughtry — as well as eight more UConn alums — are eligible to be selected from the national team pool.

“Louisville’s athletic and they get up and down the floor, so they mirror some of the international players,” said Staley. “For Sue, Diana, A’ja [Wilson] and the other players, they’re looking forward to playing a challenging schedule. They look forward to playing together and hopefully winning together.”

USA’s roster will be centered on Taurasi, Bird and the other six core players who have committed to the United States’ entire pre-Olympics training schedule. The remaining four players will be selected from the national team pool, which was updated recently to include Jordin Canada and Arike Ogunbowale.

Prospects for a potential third college tour team

All six NCAA teams named to the United States’ college tour appear in the preseason top-10 rankings. If a potential third college tour team comes from this set, the remaining teams are:

  • No. 2 Baylor
  • No. 4 Maryland
  • Staley’s No. 8 South Carolina
  • No. 10 Mississippi State

Olympic qualifying

Following the winter college tour games, Team USA will compete in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament (Feb. 2-10). The United States is taking part in the entire Olympic qualification process despite already having qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Assistant coaches Dan Hughes and Cheryl Reeve are again slated to share coaching duties for the February series, as Staley and assistant coach Jennifer Rizzotti (George Washington) will be with their respective college programs.

Get tickets

Tickets are available for the Louisville game beginning Friday, Nov. 8, at 10 a.m. ET. Tickets to the UConn game are available on a tiered system: XL season ticket holders may purchase beginning Thursday, Nov. 7, Gampel and men’s basketball season ticket holders may purchase beginning Tuesday, Nov. 19, and the public may purchase tickets starting Friday, Nov. 22, at 10 a.m. ET.

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