The USA Women’s World University Games Team is one of the teams under the auspices of the USA Basketball organization. The Universiade is an international, multi-sport event for university students, generally held every other year since 1959. It is second only to the Olympics in number of participants.[1] The United States has participated in women's basketball since their first participation in 1973 at the VII Summer Universiade. USA Basketball has organized the participation except for 2003 and 2007[2]. In 2003 an All-Star team selected from the Big 12 Conference represented the USA in Daegu, South Korea[3]. In 2007, the Charlotte 49ers, the basketball team at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, represented the USA[4] in Bangkok, Thailand.
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†USA represented by Big-12 All-Star team[10][11][12][13][14][15][16]
‡USA Represented by UNC Charlotte[17][18]
| Number | Name | Pos | Height | Weight | Date of Birth | Grad. | School | Hometown |
| 12 | Tina Charles | C | 6-3 | 193 | 05-Dec-1988 | 2010 | Connecticut | Jamaica,NY |
| 5 | Alexis Gray-Lawson | G | 5-8 | 160 | 21-Apr-1987 | 2010 | California | Oakland,CA |
| 8 | Tiffany Hayes | G | 5-11 | 140 | 20-Sep-1989 | 2012 | Connecticut | Lakeland,FL |
| 4 | Ashley Houts | G | 5-6 | 144 | 31-Dec-1987 | 2010 | Georgia | Trenton,GA |
| 14 | Jantel Lavender | C | 6-4 | 210 | 12-Nov-1988 | 2011 | Ohio State | Cleveland,OH |
| 6 | Danielle McCray | G/F | 5-11 | 169 | 08-Oct-1987 | 2010 | Kansas | Olathe,KS |
| 13 | Jacinta Monroe | F/C | 6-5 | 166 | 04-Sep-1988 | 2010 | Florida State | Ft.Lauderdale,FL |
| 9 | Maya Moore | F | 6-0 | 170 | 11-Jun-1989 | 2011 | Connecticut | Lawrenceville,GA |
| 11 | Kayla Pedersen | G/F | 6-4 | 195 | 14-Apr-1989 | 2011 | Stanford | FountainHills,AZ |
| 15 | Ta’Shia Phillips | C | 6-6 | 225 | 24-Jan-1989 | 2011 | Xavier | Indianapolis,IN |
| 10 | Jeanette Pohlen | G | 5-11 | 168 | 02-May-1989 | 2011 | Stanford | Brea,CA |
| 7 | Danielle Robinson | G | 5-8 | 130 | 10-May-1989 | 2011 | Oklahoma | SanJose,CA |
| Coaching Staff | ||
| Position | Name | School or location |
| Head Coach | Charli Turner Thorne | Arizona State University |
| Assistant Coach | Suzy Merchant | Michigan State University |
| Assistant Coach | Julie Rousseau | Pepperdine University |
| Team Doctor | Mark Hutchinson | University of Illinois–Chicago |
| Athletic Trainer | Kelley Etheridge | Hiram, Georgia |
Eligibility - The participants must be born between January 1, 1985 and December 31, 1991[19]
The twelve-player squad started the official games in Belgrade, Serbia one player down. Maya Moore, the consensus player of the year, sprained a knee in a scrimmage with Australia. She was listed as day-to-day, but was never cleared to play.[20]
The first official game was against France. The USA won easily 115–30, behind double-digit scoring from five players - Tina Charles (18), Jantel Lavender (16), Jacinta Monroe (16), Tiffany Hayes(15), and Alexis Gray-Lawson (14).[21]
On 2 July 2009, the USA team played Great Britain. As with the previous game against France, this game was not in much doubt after the first few minutes; USA prevailed 93–59. The USA team's offense was led by three double-digit scorers – Jantel Lavender (17), Danielle McCray (15) and Ta'Shia Phillips (11) – but USA coach Charli Turner Thorne credited the win to defense.[22]
The third game was against the hosts, Serbia. The USA led at the end of the first quarter 20–14, the smallest lead at that point of the first three games. The USA team increased its lead, and ended with an 84–50 win.[23]
After a day off, USA would resume against Poland. The USA won 75–67 in their closest match so far. Tina Charles had double-digit scoring and double-digit rebounding (12 and 10), and Danielle McCray also scored 12 points[24].
After defeating Poland by nine, the USA team faced the Czech Republic, undefeated, with a 13-point win over Poland.[25] But the USA did not have any difficulty in dispatching the Czech team, winning 115–78. The USA team had five players in double figures, led by Tina Charles with 20 points. USA head coach Charli Turner Thorne credited the rebounding, noting that the USA team out-rebounded the Czech team by 30. Tiffany Hayes (16), Danielle McCray (15), Ashley Houts (13), and Jantel Lavender (10) were the other double-digit scorers.[26]
Early in the semifinal game against Australia, the USA team found itself behind 13–9. They went on a 25–0 run to open up a large lead, and went on to win 81–66 and headed to the Gold medal game.[27]
In the Gold Medal game, the USA team faced a Russian team that had played together for years. The first quarter would be close, with the Russian team leading 22-20 at the end of the first quarter, the first time in the tournament the USA team had been behind at the end of any quarter. Russia continued to build upon its lead, scoring six straight points to open the second quarter, but the USA team would follow with a 19-3 run to recapture the lead. The USA team went into halftime with an eight-point lead, and started the third quarter with a 9-0 run. The team was led by Tina Charles, scoring 28 points with 18 rebounds, characterized as a "monster performance" by sportswriters.[28] Jantel Lavender and Kayla Petersen also contributed double-digit scoring[29].
USA World University Games Team Statistics[30]
| # | Player | GP | GS | Min | Avg | Tot FG | Tot FGA | Tot Pct | 3FG | 3FGA | 3Pct | FT | FTA | Pct | Off R | Def R | Tot R | Avg R | PF | FO | A | TO | Blk | Stl | Pts | Avg |
| 12 | CHARLES, Tina | 7 | 5 | 133 | 19.0 | 47 | 94 | 0.500 | 0 | 0 | 0.000 | 19 | 29 | 0.655 | 22 | 35 | 57 | 8.1 | 10 | 0 | 5 | 18 | 1 | 8 | 113 | 16.1 |
| 6 | McCRAY, Danielle | 7 | 5 | 122 | 17.4 | 32 | 57 | 0.561 | 7 | 15 | 0.467 | 13 | 16 | 0.813 | 14 | 12 | 26 | 3.7 | 15 | 0 | 11 | 16 | 1 | 8 | 84 | 12.0 |
| 14 | LAVENDER, Jantel | 7 | 4 | 114 | 16.3 | 24 | 51 | 0.471 | 0 | 0 | 0.000 | 25 | 29 | 0.862 | 15 | 35 | 50 | 7.1 | 6 | 1 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 73 | 10.4 |
| 8 | HAYES, Tiffany | 7 | 0 | 132 | 18.9 | 20 | 49 | 0.408 | 9 | 22 | 0.409 | 12 | 20 | 0.600 | 4 | 16 | 20 | 2.9 | 16 | 0 | 13 | 13 | 2 | 12 | 61 | 8.7 |
| 4 | HOUTS, Ashley | 7 | 3 | 135 | 19.3 | 20 | 38 | 0.526 | 8 | 17 | 0.471 | 10 | 11 | 0.909 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 1.9 | 10 | 0 | 11 | 14 | 0 | 12 | 58 | 8.3 |
| 5 | GRAY-LAWSON, Alexis | 7 | 3 | 141 | 20.1 | 18 | 45 | 0.400 | 8 | 17 | 0.471 | 11 | 12 | 0.917 | 20 | 10 | 30 | 4.3 | 13 | 0 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 10 | 55 | 7.9 |
| 13 | MONROE, Jacinta | 7 | 1 | 108 | 15.4 | 19 | 33 | 0.576 | 0 | 0 | 0.000 | 13 | 17 | 0.765 | 11 | 23 | 34 | 4.9 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 9 | 51 | 7.3 |
| 11 | PEDERSEN, Kayla | 7 | 4 | 141 | 20.1 | 16 | 36 | 0.444 | 1 | 3 | 0.333 | 17 | 19 | 0.895 | 13 | 32 | 45 | 6.4 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 50 | 7.1 |
| 10 | POHLEN, Jeanette | 7 | 6 | 161 | 23.0 | 11 | 26 | 0.423 | 7 | 19 | 0.368 | 6 | 6 | 1.000 | 12 | 11 | 23 | 3.3 | 11 | 0 | 21 | 9 | 1 | 11 | 35 | 5.0 |
| 15 | PHILLIPS, Ta'Shia | 7 | 0 | 66 | 9.4 | 13 | 29 | 0.448 | 0 | 0 | 0.000 | 8 | 19 | 0.421 | 15 | 14 | 29 | 4.1 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 34 | 4.9 |
| 7 | ROBINSON, Danielle | 7 | 4 | 147 | 21.0 | 12 | 34 | 0.353 | 0 | 0 | 0.000 | 8 | 15 | 0.533 | 3 | 9 | 12 | 1.7 | 13 | 0 | 23 | 9 | 2 | 16 | 32 | 4.6 |
| TEAM | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | 7 | 1400 | 232 | 492 | 0.472 | 40 | 93 | 0.430 | 142 | 193 | 0.736 | 134 | 205 | 339 | 48.4 | 119 | 1 | 113 | 116 | 12 | 97 | 646 | (92.3) | |||
| Opponents | 7 | 1400 | 152 | 400 | 0.380 | 23 | 95 | 0.242 | 87 | 116 | 0.750 | 58 | 135 | 193 | 27.6 | 152 | - | 71 | 155 | 11 | 56 | 414 | (59.1) |