WNBA: Expect Great

Be the first to see the two new ad spots for the WNBA’s Expect Great campaign for the 2009 season.The ads will begin to air nationally this weekend, but you can check them out now. Visit WNBA.com for more details.

Diana Taurasi Launches “got milk?” Ad

Are you the one? Sister One giveaway

To celebrate the amazing achievements in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, Nike has created a series of one-of-a- kind training shoes inspired by the successes of their female athletes. This fresh campaign is for a line of trainers called Sister One +. Pledge to one of the Nike Olympians to train your best and you could win her shoe!

• Jessica Mendoza (Softball)
• Hope Solo (Soccer)
• Sanya Richardson (Track)
• Diana Taurasi (Basketball)

The truly unique shoes each feature a piece of fabric from the athlete’s authentic Olympic uniform stitched onto the shoe’s tongue. 

Girls (13 and older) can log-onto nike.com  and enter to win their own pair of these inspirational shoes by pledging to train as hard as the featured Olympians. 

A panel of judges will review each pledge and the most inspirational will win the beautiful shoes and have them presented in person by the athlete.  The contest ends March 31, 2009.

Cool, huh?

Women’s roster set for Olympic basketball team

July 10, 2008 - Tamika Catchings, Delisha Milton-Jones and Kara Lawson are going to play ball in Beijing.

The WNBA stars have earned the final three spots on the U.S. women’s basketball team going to the Olympics, a person familiar with the choices told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because an official announcement was planned for today.

Catchings would have been among the original nine picks in May had she not been slow to recover after tearing her right Achilles tendon last September. She started all eight games in Athens on the gold medal-winning 2004 Olympic team, averaging 6.9 points and 5.4 rebounds.

The other nine members of the 12 member squad heading to Beijing are headlined by three-time Olympic gold medalist Lisa Leslie (Los Angeles Sparks) and two-time Olympic gold medalist Katie Smith (Detroit Shock). In addition to Leslie and Smith, the initial roster includes 2004 Olympic gold medalists Sue Bird (Seattle Storm), Diana Taurasi (Phoenix Mercury) and Tina Thompson (Houston Comets); while Seimone Augustus (Minnesota Lynx), Sylvia Fowles (Chicago Sky), Candace Parker (Los Angeles Sparks) and Cappie Pondexter (Phoenix Mercury) will participate in their first Olympic Games.

Diana Taurasi signs three-year deal to stay in Phoenix

PHOENIX, Ariz. March 23, 2008 - Diana Taurasi is staying with the Phoenix Mercury, signing a three-year contract Thursday to remain with the defending champions.

“I am thrilled to re-sign with the Mercury,” Taurasi said. “I enjoy playing in Phoenix and am glad they want me back. I am excited for the upcoming season and ready to defend our title.”

“Diana is the backbone of our franchise,” Mercury GM Ann Meyers Drysdale said. “She is a WNBA, Olympic and NCAA champion and is the consummate team player. We understood the importance of bringing her back and are thrilled that she will remain in Phoenix for another three years.”

Taurasi, entering her fifth season in the WNBA, has averaged 19.4 points for the Mercury. The three-time All-Star and Olympic gold medalist was the No. 1 overall pick out of Connecticut in the 2004 draft.

FIBA World Championship for Women 2006

Brazil, Sao Paolo- 12-23 September 2006

Who better to host the most elite women’s tournament in the world? Brazil - a country which is basketball crazy and has a long standing tradition for the game and an endless list of international titles and successes at World Championships and Olympics: Brazil – the land of Hortencia and Paula, the land of passion and pride, the land of Samba and carnival.

Sixteen teams from 5 continents joined the celebration of women’s basketball and got a taste of the excitement and enthusiasm of Brazilian fans during the 2006 FIBA Championships. Read more