New York Liberty lead the WNBA with 7 players headed to the FIBA World Cup

NEW YORK (AP) — As the WNBA goes on its FIBA World Cup break, no team has more players headed to Germany then the New York Liberty.

Like the city they play in, the Liberty are an international smorgasbord with players from France, Nigeria, China, Germany, Australia, Spain, the Bahamas and the U.S. New York will have seven of them playing in the tournament that begins Sept. 4 in Berlin. The Liberty would have an eighth, but Satou Sabally is still recovering from a concussion so can't play for Germany.

“It truly is like the United Nations here,” Liberty star Breanna Stewart said of her teammates' backgrounds.

Rebecca Allen, the longest tenured member of the team, said it wasn't like that when she first joined the organization in 2015.

“I was the only foreigner on the team back then. Everyone made me feel welcome, but now it's different with so many countries represented here,” she said.

Rookie Pauline Astier, who will play for France at the World Cup with Liberty teammate Marine Johannes, said her teammates were so welcoming that it made the adjustment to playing in a foreign country much easier.

It goes to show how international the league has become. The Liberty could have a very fun potluck dinner if everyone brought something from their native country. It's an idea that Allen thought would be fun to do when they get back from the FIBA break.

Han Xu will represent China, Elizabeth Balogun will play for Nigeria, Leonie Fiebich for Germany and Raquel Carrera for Spain.

Golden State took over the top spot in the power poll after going 4-0 last week, including a win over previous No. 1 Minnesota. The Lynx dropped to third behind Las Vegas. Atlanta, Indiana and New York were the next three. Dallas was seventh with Washington eighth. Portland, Los Angeles and Phoenix followed the Mystics. Chicago was 12th. Connecticut, Seattle and Toronto rounded out the poll.

Angel Reese continues to dominate the boards, setting another record on Sunday. Reese, who broke the single-game rebound record earlier last week with 26 in a win over Los Angeles, had her 29th double-double of the season against Minnesota. That's the most in a single year by a WNBA player, breaking Alyssa Thomas' mark set in 2023.

Golden State's Veronica Burton was the AP player of the week. The Valkyries guard averaged 11.3 points, 8.8 assists and 2 steals to help the team win all four of its games last week on the road. Other players receiving votes were Caitlin Clark of Indiana, Angel Reese of Atlanta, Nneka Ogwumike of Los Angeles and Kiki Iriafen of Washington.

AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball