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. 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. In 2003 an All-Star team selected from the Big 12 Conference represented the US in Daegu, South Korea. In 2007, the Charlotte 49ers, the basketball team at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, represented the USA in Bangkok, Thailand.

The 2015 World University Games were held in Seoul, South Korea July 5–13, 2015. The head coach of the USA team was Joe McKeown, while Holly Warlick and Tanya Warren were the assistant coaches. The USA won the gold medal.

Record

1973 5-3 2nd 1975 Not HeldThe 1975 competition included only Track and field 1977 6-2 2nd 1979 7-0 1st 1981 6-1 2nd 1983 5-1 1st 1985 5-1 2nd 1987 4-1 5th 1991 8-0 1st 1993 6-2 3rd 1995 6-1 2nd 1997 6-0 1st 1999 4-2 2nd 2001 7-1 1st 2003 3-4 6th † 2005 7-0 1st 2007 4-3 6th ‡ 2009 7-0 1st 2011 5–0 1st 2013 6–0 1st 2015 6–0 1st

†USA represented by Big-12 All-Star team ‡USA Represented by UNC Charlotte

1973

Jill Upton was named the head coach, and Billie Jean Moore the assistant coach of the team representing the US at the World University Games held in Moscow, Soviet Union in August 1973. The event, also called the Universiade, is the eighth event to have women's basketball, but the first in which the USA participated. The USA team was assigned to the same preliminary round group as the Soviet team, and drew them as their first opponent. The game was not close, as the USSR defeated the USA 92–43. The USA went on to defeat France and Mexico. Their 2–1 record qualified them for the medal round, but the rules of the competition carried the preliminary round results into the medal round, so they could not afford another loss. They won their next three games, all by single digit margins, against Bulgaria, Romania and Cuba. That performance qualified the USA team for the gold medal game, but it matched them up against undefeated USSR. While the game was closer, the Soviets were much too strong and won 82–44 to claim the gold. The USA team earned a silver medal in their first ever World University Games competition.

1977

Lucille Kyvallos was named the head coach and Dixie Woodall the assistant coach of the team representing the US at the World University Games held in Sofia, Bulgaria in August 1977. The event is also called the Universiade. The team started out strongly, winning their first three games against West German, Mexico, and China, by more than 30 points each. The fourth game, against Hungary was closer, but led by Carol Blazejowski's 31 points, the USA won by ten points. Moving on to the medal rounds, the USA drew Romania. That game was quite close, butt he USA won the game 76–73. The next opponent was the USSR, who had defeated the US in the prior University Games. The beginning was reasonably close, with the USA down by seven points at halftime, but despite getting 25 points from Ann Meyers, the USSR opened up the lead and won 103–78. The next opponent was Bulgaria, which stayed close, but the USA team won by three points. That set up a rematch with the Soviets for the gold medal. This time, the Soviets started out strong and had a 24-point lead at the half. Although the USA team would outscore USSR in the second half, they did not close the gap enough, and fell 107–90. The USSR defended their gold medal, and the USA team again won the silver medal. Blazejowski led the team in scoring with over 20 points per game. Charlotte Lewis led the team in rebounding with over nine per game.

1979

Frances Garmon was named head coach and Kay Yow the assistant coach of the team representing the US at the World University Games held in Mexico City, Mexico in August 1979. The opening game was against Costa Rica, and the USA almost outscored them by triple digits, falling just shy at 132–34. The next three games were closer, but all margins were in double digits. The fifth game was against the USSR, who had won the event in 1973 and 1977. The Soviet team led at halftime, but the USA team outscored the USSR by three points in the second half to win 83–81, the first win by the USA over the USSR in a major competition in two decades. The next game was a rematch against Canada, them team they had beaten by 14 points a few days earlier. This time the Canadian team would take a nine-point lead at halftime, but the USA team came back and won 68–60. The final game of the competition was against Cuba, which the USA won 73–60 to claim their first gold medal in a World University Games event.

1981

Kay Yow was the head coach while Lorene Ramsey was the assistant coach of the team representing the US at the World University Games held in Bucharest, Romania in July 1981. The team started with a game against Finland and won easily, 68–49. They trailed at halftime in their next game against China, but came back to win a close game 76–74. After beating Poland, they played Czechoslovakia in a game that was close at the half, but the USA team went on to win 86–67. In the following game against Canada, the USA team was again behind at the half, but played a close match in the second half and pulled ahead to win 79–76. Despite being undefeated, they needed a win against Romania to advance to the gold medal came. They had only a one-point lead at halftime, but went on to win 75–64 to meet the undefeated USSR for the gold medal. The USA fell behind by sixteen and could not close the gap—the USSR team won 98–79 to claim the gold medal, leaving the US with the silver. Denise Curry was the leading scorer for the USA team with 18.1 points per game. Anne Donovan led the team in rebounds with 6.7 per game.

1983

Jill Hutchison was the head coach and Sylvia Hatchell was the assistant coach of the team representing the US at the World University Games held in Edmonton, Canada in July 1983. The first game against Hong Kong was a mismatch—the USA team would outscore their opponents by triple digits, 134–23. Joyce Walker's 26 points alone were more than the entire Hong Kong team. The next two games against France and West Germany were closer, but the USA still won by 16 and 15 points respectively. The USA team faced Romania and lost by 14 points 85–71. The next opponent was Yugoslavia, which the USA needed to win to stay in medal contention. The game was close, but the USA won by a single point 86–85 to head to a rematch with Romania for the gold medal. The Romanian team started out strong, and held a six-point lead at halftime. The USA team came back, out scoring their opponents 47–19 in the second half, and won the game, earning the gold medal as a result. Walker was the leading scorer for the US with 13.8 points per game, but Deborah Temple Lee was close behind with 13.5 points per game.

1985

C. Vivian Stringer was named the head coach while Hatchell repeated as the assistant coach of the team representing the US at the World University Games held in Kobe, Japan in July 1985. The team won their three preliminary games with ease, beating the People's Republic of Korea, Yugoslavia and Great Britain by more than 25 points each. Their next game, against China, was much closer, but the USA team had balanced scoring, with five players in double figures for points, and won 83–78. The USA team played Canada in the semifinal, and again had five players with double-digit scoring, winning 85–61 to advance to the gold medal game against the USSR. The USA fell behind by as much as 18 points in the second half. They attempted a comeback, and cut the margin, but the USSR hit almost 55% of their shots and went on to claim the gold medal 87–81. The USA received the silver medal. Katrina McClain was the leading scorer and rebounder for the USA team with 17.3 points and 7.7 rebounds per game.

1987

Linda Sharp was the head coach, with Colleen Riley serving as the assistant coach of the team representing the US at the World University Games held in Zagreb, Yugoslavia in July 1987. The team started out with a 35-point victory over Poland and followed that with a 41-point victory over Finland. In the third game, the USA faced the host team Yugoslavia. The USA hit a high percentage of their shots from the free throw line, 16 of 19, but the Yugoslav team earned 43 shots from the line, of which they made 34. With a home crowd behind them, the game came down to the wire, and was tied at the end of regulation. In overtime, Yugoslavia outscored the US and won the game 93–89. The USA still had a chance to make it to the medal round, but to do so had to win their next game against China, and do so by at least five points. The USA fell behind, and were down 16 points at halftime. They fell behind by 20 at one point, but made up the deficit and more in the second half. They went on to win the game, but by only a single point 84–83. They won their final game against Canada, but this left them in fifth place, the first time ever the USA team did not win a medal at the World University Games.

1989

The 1989 event did not include women's basketball.The XV Games in Duisburg, West Germany included only four sports, not including women's basketball

1991

Tara VanDerveer was the head coach, with Charlene Curtis and Nancy Darsch serving as the assistant coaches of the team representing the US at the World University Games held in Sheffield, England in July 1991. The USA team started out with a very strong offense, scoring over 100 points in each of the first four games. The fourth game was against the USSR, a team often challenging the US for the top spot, but the USA won 106–80 this time. The team fell short of 100 points in the game against Canada, but still won by 18 points. In the quarterfinal game, the USA won easily against Romania 135–53, with Ruthie Bolton scoring 40 points. The game against China was more of a challenge. The USA team shot poorly, hitting only 36% of their shots, but the defense held China to 35% shooting, and won a three-point game, 79–76. The gold medal match was against Spain, but the USA had a 13-point lead at halftime and won 88–62. Bolton was the highest scorer for the USA team with 14 points per game, but Lisa Leslie and Carolyn Jones were close behind with 13 points per game.

1993

Joan Bonvicini was the head coach, with Dianne Nolan and Jane Albright serving as assistant coaches of the team representing the US at the World University Games held in Buffalo, New York in July 1993. The USA opened with double-digit margin victories over Israel, Taiwan, and Ukraine. Their next game was against Russia, and they held a single-point lead with just over ten minutes to go ant he game, but they finished strong, and won 72–55. The next game was against Cuba, which included sixth players from their 1992 Olympic team. The USA pulled out to a 15-point lead at halftime, and extended to an 18-point lead at one time, but Cuba proved to be too strong, and came back to defeat the USA 88–80. After beating Japan, the USA faced China, whose team also featured many members of their silver medal-winning Olympic team. The USA fell behind; their comeback attempt fell two points shy of tying the game. The final score in favor of China was 75–73. The opponent in the bronze medal game was Lithuania. The USA team won 83–73 to earn the bronze medal.

1995