Tally-ho. Three Lynx players are going to London this summer.
Guards Lindsay Whalen and Seimone Augustus and forward Maya Moore were named to the U.S. women's basketball team on Friday for the 2012 Summer Olympics. Team USA, the four-time defending champion, will be the gold medal favorite. It has a 33-game winning streak in the Olympics.
"[Being an Olympian] is one of those things I've dreamt about since I was growing up," Whalen said, according a USA Basketball news release.
Of the eight other WNBA players picked, three will be on their third Olympic team: guards Diana Taurasi of Phoenix and Sue Bird of Seattle and forward Tamika Catchings of Indiana.
Also on the team are Swin Cash and Sylvia Fowles of Chicago, Candace Parker of Los Angeles, Tina Charles of Connecticut and Angel McCoughtry of Atlanta.
One roster spot remains open, probably for 6-8 junior center Brittney Griner of Baylor. Her 38-0 Lady Bears are in semifinals of the women's Final Four on Sunday. Rebekkah Brunson, a fourth Lynx player, also was in the 21-player national pool but would be a long shot possibility for the last spot.
Augustus played for Team USA in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Whalen and Moore were on the U.S. team that won the world championships in 2010.
"They are three of the best players in the world," Team USA coach Geno Auriemma said of the three Lynx players. "They do have great chemistry. They did have an unbelievable season and won the WNBA championship. I see not only the talent, but they are unselfish competitors and they know how to win."
The Lynx won their first WNBA title last season with Whalen, Augustus and Moore all playing key roles and appearing in the league all-star game.
"The last few years have been really great and I've been lucky," said Whalen, now playing in the Czech Republic. "I've been working hard, doing all the right things and it's paid off. I'm just super excited."
Team USA will practice May 11-13 before the WNBA season starts and again briefly before the preliminary round-robin starts on July 28.
"With the fact there is so little time to prepare," Auriemma said, "any added advantage with players knowing or being comfortable with each other makes the job so much easier.
"The lack of practice is an issue, but it is what it is and we can't change it and we will win despite of it."