The World Cup starts on Friday and final rosters have been finalized and there are players participating who have ties Golden State Valkyries and Women’s Premier Basketball Association this season representing their countries. As is the case during the offseason, this site will provide coverage of their play with recaps after each set of games. Broadcast options will depend on the country, but the HBO Max will have streaming coverage of all of the games in the United States with select games also being broadcasted on TNT and truTV.
Gabby Williams and Janelle Salaun
France is expected to be one of the top teams in the tournament with Gabby Williams and Janelle Salaun expected to be a critical part of their team. Both have had extensive experience with the team in recent years including their close loss in the gold medal game at the last Olympics. While France has certainly had success in recent years, their history in this event has not matched their finishes in other competitions and they look to earn their first medal since the very first edition of the tournament.
They will be joined on the team by other players who have spent time with the Valkyries. Carla Leite is getting her second competitive experience with the full national team after her tremendous WNBA season so far. She was not a standout at the youth level until later than some other players so it has been a tougher path to break into this squad for her. Migna Toure is also on the team, helping them qualify at both EuroBasket and the final tournament after being waived by the Valkyries at the end of training camp.
Cecilia Zandalasini
Italy qualified for this event for the first time in 32 years and Cecilia Zandalasini is the veteran leader on a team that is on the younger side and looking to start a run of appearances on the global level. She is expected to be their key player after a fantastic EuroBasket last summer that finally gave them the chance to get a spot in this tournament. Her time with the Valkyries has meant that she has missed out on the training camp and exhibition games that the rest of the team has been participating in, but there is a familiarity within the team that should allow her to be integrated back into the system quickly.
Miela Sowah
Australia was one of the few teams to announce a team without recent data on players before making a decision. Miela Sowah was not named to the squad originally, but she was picked as a replacement player. She did play a part in getting them to this tournament when she was on the team that won the Asia Cup last summer. That was her first senior national team experience after extensive youth national team history and plenty of tournaments with their 3×3 team.
Chloe Bibby was also on that Asia Cup team after her time with the Valkyries last season and she will also be on this roster. Stephanie Talbot is the other former Golden State player on the team as the established veteran of the group. The team looks to continue their medal streak while being the last team that was not the United States to win the whole tournament.
Kokoro Tanaka
Valkyries fans are certainly looking forward to seeing what Kokoro Tanaka can do as they wait to find out what she can do at the WNBA level after being drafted this year. She is one of the youngest players in the tournament, but she has earned an increasing role on Japan’s national team after being their breakout star in the Asia Cup last year that started their qualification process for this event. Even on a team with plenty of guards with international experience, she will be a part of their rotation as they try to get their best finish in decades.
Rokia Doumbia
The Women’s Premier Basketball Association will have a player who has played in the league for three years in this tournament. Rokia Doumbia played in the league for the Royals for the two years after she finished her college career while working in a non-basketball job. Last year, she returned to Mali’s national team for the first time in four years, helping them qualify for this tournament and also played in club tournaments in Africa. She played part of this summer with the Swish and has been named to this team as they face a tough quest for their first ever group stage win.
Former Valkyries
There are other players with ties to the Valkyries who will be playing in the tournament. Maria Conde, who was selected by the team in the expansion draft before being selected away by Toronto this year, will be a key player for Spain. Julie Vanloo and Kyara Linskens will be starters for Belgium after both of them helped the team win EuroBasket last summer after starting the season with the Valkyries. Both countries figure to be in medal contention in this event and getting to the podium would represent a new accomplishment for Belgium.
Staff
Players will not be the only representatives for the Valkyries at the event. Natalie Nakase is one of the assistant coaches for the United States having started working with the team in this cycle under new head coach Kara Lawson. Head trainer Katelin Knox will also serve in that role for this the United States. She previously was the team trainer for the 2023 AmeriCup squad while working at Stanford.
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