The USA women's national under-17 basketball team is the women's basketball team, administered by USA Basketball,Profile - USA, about.fiba.basketballUSA (U16 Women), usbasket.com that represents the United States in international under-17 and under-16 (under age 17 and under age 16) women's basketball competitions, consisting mainly of the FIBA Americas Under-16 Championship for Women and FIBA Under-17 World Championship for Women. These events replaced the USA Basketball Women's Youth Development Festival.

The usual sequence is for the U16 team to play in a regional championship in one year, with the top three qualifying teams being invited to a World Championship in the following year, as the U17 team. The first FIBA Americas U16 Championship For Women was held in 2009. The qualifying teams were invited to the 2010 FIBA U17 World Championship for Women held in France. The events are on a two-year cycle, with U16 events in 2009 and 2011, and the corresponding U17 events in 2010 and 2012.

The U16 team becomes the U17 team, with largely the same players and coaches, although invitations are not automatic and changes can occur.

Competitive record FIBA Under-17 Women's World Cup YearResultPosition 2010Champions1st 8 8 0 2012Champions1st 8 8 0 2014Champions1st 7 7 0 2016Third place3rd 7 6 1 2018Champions1st 7 7 0 2022Champions1st 7 7 0 2024Champions1st 7 7 0 2026Champions1st 7 7 0 Total7 titles8/858571

FIBA Under-16 Women's AmeriCup YearResultPosition 2009Champions1st 5 5 0 2011Champions1st 5 5 0 2013Champions1st 5 5 0 2015Third place3rd 5 4 1 2017Champions1st 5 5 0 2019Champions1st 6 6 0 2021Champions1st 6 6 0 2023Champions1st 6 6 0 2025Champions1st 6 6 0 Total8 titles9/949481

2011 U16 results

The US team opened the 2011 FIBA Americas U16 Championship in Mexico City with a game against Brazil on Monday, 13 June. Although the US team started the game with a 6–0 run, the team from Brazil responded, and held a 34–31 lead at halftime. The US team held Brazil to eight points in the third period to retake the lead. The US squad held on to win the first game with a score of 71–54. Mercedes Russell, from Springfield High School in Springfield Oregon, set US single-game records for points and rebounds, with 21 and 15 respectively.

The US team faced the team from Argentina on the following day. The score was close for the early part of the game, with both teams tied at nine points apiece, then a lead by Argentina at 14–13, and a lead by the US at 17–16. The US put on a 17–0 run in the second quarter to take a large lead, and continued on to a win with a score of 82–46. Rebecca Greenwell from Owensboro Catholic High School in Owensboro Kentucky was the leading scorer with 22 points.

The US team faced Venezuela on the following day, Wednesday. The US team opened up an early lead, and held the Venezuela team to single digit scoring for the first three periods. The US team won with a final score of 114–32. Rebecca Greenwell tied with Stephanie Mavunga from Brownsburg High School in Indianapolis Indiana for the scoring lead; each player had 18 points. The win qualified the team for the medal rounds.

After a day off, the US team faced Puerto Rico in the semifinal game. The US team jumped out to a ten-point margin in the first quarter, but a 23–0 run in the second quarter produced a commanding lead that would not be challenged. The US won, with a final score of 99–51. Rebecca Greenwell repeated as the scoring leader, with 20 points.

The gold medal game on Saturday was a rematch between the US and first round opponent Brazil. While the earlier game had been close at the half, in this game, the US outscored Brazil 19–8 in the first period, and held a 21-point lead by halftime. The US went on to win the game, the gold medal and a n invitation to the 2012 world championships with a score of 73–40. Jannah Tucker's seven steals set a US U16 single-game record, eclipsing the previous record of five steals in a game. Rebecca Greenwell shared tournament MVP honors with Izabella Frederico Sangalli of Brazil.

2012 U17 results The 2012 U17 World Championship was held in Amsterdam 17–26 August 2012. The US squad underwent training at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida between 28 May and 1 June, then re-assembled at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado from the first through the eighth of August. The team then flew to Caorle, Italy for more training, including exhibition games against some of the teams. The team then traveled to Amsterdam, for the World Championships.

Preliminary round The twelve qualifying teams are separated into two groups, with six teams in each group.

Group A

Belgium Italy United States South Korea Canada Mali

Group B

Japan Spain Australia Netherlands Brazil Turkey

The first five rounds are played as a round-robin, which each team playing all five of the other teams in their group. The preliminary rounds were scheduled for 17—22 August, with 20 August as an off day.

The first game for the US team was against South Korea. Although South Korea tried to utilize a full-court press, the US team was able to break the press, and scored 72 points in the first half. Rebecca Greenwell and Brianna Turner each scored 20 or more points, while Linnae Harper set a US U17 record with five steals. Mercedes Russell scored 17 points on perfect shooting from the field, hitting all eight of her field goal attempt. The US won 131–89.

The second preliminary round game was against Canada. The game was close at first, with the US team holding a six-point lead at the end of the first quarter, 18–12. In the second quarter, Diamond DeShields scored eleven of her game total 29 points to help extend the US lead. The US team held Canada to 21% shooting, and ended up with an 86–47 victory. In addition to her team high 29 points, DeShields also had five steals, tying the US U17 record set the day before.

The third game was against Italy. The US team had five scorers in double digits, lead by Rebecca Greenwell with 16 points. The US team held the Italian team to under 17% field goal shooting for the game, leading to an 83–43 victory.

The US team started slow against Belgium, holding only a four-point lead at the end of the first quarter. Although they opened up the lead to 16 points by halftime, the Belgian team cut the lead back to eight in the third period. The US team responded with an 11–4 run to extend the lead to 15, then broke open the game in the fourth quarter, and won by thirty points 80–50. Diamond DeShields had a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds, while Linnae Harper broke her own steals record by swiping seven in the game. The team hit 7 of 11 three-point attempts to set a record for three-point shooting.

The US team had little trouble with Mali in the final game of the preliminary round. Four bench players had more minutes than the starter with e most minutes, but the US team still managed to set a record for the largest margin of victory in U17 history, admittedly brief, as it only goes back to 2010. The final score was 98–28.

Quarterfinals

The US advanced to the quarterfinals with a game against the fourth place team in Group B, Australia. The US team scored first, but Australia at on an 11–1 run to take a seven-point lead. The Australian team still lead by five at the end of the first quarter. The US team out-scored the Aussies 22–13 in the second period, but this left them with only a four-point margin at halftime. The US team extended the margin in the third quarter, and again in the fourth, ending up with a win 89–68. The US did not shoot well, hitting only a third of their shots, but blocked 16 shots, a US U17 record, and Linnae Harper broke her own steals record with eight. The win advances the US team to the semi-finals against Canada, a team they beat earlier in the preliminary rounds.

Semifinals The semifinal game against Canada resembled the quarterfinal game in many respects. The US scored the first three points, then gave up a run to give up the lead. The US team shot poorly, again hitting a third of their shots, but garnered 23 steals, lead by Harper's seven. They forced the Canadians into 31 turnovers, and ended up with an 84–59 win, in a game in which every US player scored. The win sets up the gold medal game against Spain.

Final The gold medal game matched up the US with Spain. The opening of the game looked headed toward a blowout. The US had a 22–8 lead at the end of the first quarter. However, the team from Spain did not quit, and out-scored the US in the second quarter. They were unable to take the lead, but cut the margin to single digits. The game continued to see-saw, with the US opening up a large lead, then Spain responding and trimming the margin to single digits. Spain was unable to close the gap, and the US ended up earning the gold medal with a 75–62 win. The MVP of the Tournament was presented to Diamond DeShields. Teammate Linnae Harper was also named to the All Tournament team.

2013 U16 results The 2013 FIBA Americas U16 Championship was held in Cancun, Mexico. In the opening game, the US team took on Brazil. They scored the first eight points of the game, and went on to open up a commanding lead. The US won 76–20, with Asia Durr scoring 20 points. During one stretch starting at the end of the first quarter, and extending into the second, the team scored 21 consecutive points. In the second game, the US faced the team from Argentina. Asia Durr again led all scorers, with 23 points. Crystal Dangerfield scored 16 on 7 of 9 shooting. DeJanae Boykin had a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds. The US team had a 23-point lead at halftime, but outscored their opponents 38–6 in the third period to leave no doubt as to the outcome, winning easily, 98–28. In the last game of preliminary round play, the US faced Costa Rica. The US completely out matched their opponents, with seven players reaching double figures, led by Katie Lou Samuelson's 20 points. Costa Rica held a brief lead at 4–2, but the US team scored the next 33 points to put the game away. The final score was 106–19. The win secured the US position in the 2014 FIBA U17 World Championship, because the top four finishers in the U16 event are qualifiers.

Semifinals The US faced the host team, Mexico in the semis. Mexico started out with an early lead, up 5–4 in the second minute, but the US team then scored the next 25 points. Three players shared top scoring honors, each with 16 points: Lauren Cox, Arike Ogunbowale and Katie Lou Samuelson. The final score was 101–29.

Finals