Caitlin Clark will make her return to competitive basketball on Wednesday when Team USA takes on Senegal in its first game of the 2026 FIBA Women’s World Cup Qualifying Tournament, which will run from March 11-17 in Puerto Rico. The event will serve as the senior national team debut for Clark, as well as fellow young stars Paige Bueckers and Angel Reese.
Clark was limited to just 13 appearances during the 2025 WNBA season due to an array of lower-body injuries, and has not taken the floor for a real game since July 15.
“I don’t want to call it nerves but excitement to play,” Clark reported Monday. “This is a really cool opportunity. If you don’t feel that way, then you probably don’t care enough. Certainly, that’s how I feel about it for myself. This is a different stage. You’re not going to come out here and be the star player. That’s not how it’s going to be for USA Basketball.”
“Getting to [play] at this level for my first time back, there’s no better way to get tossed into the fire,” Clark continued.
Wednesday will also serve as coach Kara Lawson’s competitive debut as Team USA’s head coach. She was appointed to lead the national team through the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles after previously serving as an assistant during the 2024 Olympics in Paris and the 2022 FIBA Women’s World Cup in Australia. Lawson, who also coaches Duke’s women’s basketball team, will depart at some point during the event to return to Raleigh to prepare for the NCAA Tournament.
“They’re really bringing something new to our sport, a kind of excitement, but also fan communities that follow them everywhere they go. And that’s great. We have a great generation of young, very talented players coming up, and I’m looking forward to working with them,” Team USA head coach Kara Lawson reported of Clark, Reese and Bueckers back in November.
“It will be good to have them in a position to play with Team USA this time and see how they gel with everyone, since there’s already so much talent.”
Natalie Nakase (Golden State Valkyries), Nate Tibbetts (Phoenix Mercury) and Stephanie White (Indiana Fever) have all been named assistant coaches. One of them will take over for the remaining games after Lawson departs.
Here’s a look at the full roster, Team USA’s schedule and what’s at stake for the Americans.
Team USA roster for World Cup Qualifying
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Monique Billings
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Forward
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Free agent
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Paige Bueckers
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Guard
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Dallas Wings
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Rae Burrell
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Guard
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Free agent
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Caitlin Clark
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Guard
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Indiana Fever
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Kahleah Copper
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Guard
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Free agent
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Chelsea Gray
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Guard
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Free agent
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Dearica Hamby
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Forward
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Free agent
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Rhyne Howard
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Guard
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Free agent
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Kiki Iriafen
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Forward
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Washington Mystics
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Kelsey Plum
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Guard
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Free agent
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Angel Reese
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Forward
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Chicago Sky
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Jackie Young
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Guard
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Free agent
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Team USA schedule
- March 11 vs. Senegal, 3 p.m. ET — tru TV / HBO Max
- March 12 vs. Puerto Rico, 6 p.m. ET — tru TV / HBO Max
- March 14 vs. Italy, 3 p.m. ET — tru TV / HBO Max
- March 15 vs. New Zealand, Noon ET — tru TV / HBO Max
- March 17 vs. Spain, 3 p.m. ET — TNT / HBO Max
All games in the round-robin tournament will take place at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico José Miguel Agrelot in San Juan.
The March 17 matchup against Spain is the key game to watch. The Spaniards are coming off a silver medal in last summer’s EuroBasket competition, and both Awa Fam and Iyana Martín have been named to the roster. Both of them are potential first-round picks in the 2026 WNBA Draft, and Fam may go No. 1 overall to the Wings, which would see her become Bueckers’ teammate.
What’s at stake for Team USA?
Team USA has already qualified for the 2026 FIBA Women’s World Cup, which will take place in Germany from Sept. 4-13, by winning the FIBA Women’s AmeriCup last summer.
Even though the Americans do not need to worry about their results, there’s still plenty at stake for the individual players hoping to be on the plane to Berlin in September. The WNBA will pause its season in early September to allow players to compete in the event.
This is a transitional period for the senior national team, which has won gold at the last eight Olympics and the last four World Cups. The average age of the 2024 Olympic team was over 30 years old, and there wasn’t a single player younger than 26. Diana Taurasi has since retired, while the likes of Brittney Griner, Alyssa Thomas, Chelsea Gray and Jewell Loyd are all approaching their mid-30s.
The likes of Clark — a controversial snub from the 2024 Olympic team — Bueckers, Reese, Iriafen and Howard will all have a chance to impress Lawson in Puerto Rico next month and prove that they deserve to be part of the national team set-up moving forward.
