Spain women's national basketball team
The Spain women's national basketball team represents Spain in international women's basketball competition, and are regulated by the Spanish Basketball Federation, the governing body for basketball in Spain. Spain has one of the most successful women's national teams in the world, being the current European champions, Olympic runners-up, and World Cup bronze medalists.
History
Spain women's basketball team played their first official game in Malgrat de Mar, Barcelona, against Switzerland on 16 June 1963, losing 31–40. They won their first game against the same team two days later, 47–39. It would take six years to play another international friendly game, losing to Cuba 50–70 on 28 September 1969.Their first official games were in March 1970, trying to qualify for 1970 EuroBasket, winning their first game against Switzerland 61–44 and losing to Hungary and France. The team qualified for their first major international tournament in their next attempt, the 1974 EuroBasket. After losing their three group stage games, they won their first game in a final tournament against Denmark in the placement matches, finishing in 12th position. Rosa Castillo is considered the best player from the mid-70s to the mid-80s.
Until 1985 Spain played most Eurobasket tournaments, usually finishing around 10th. An important year for the evolution of the team was the celebration on home soil of the 1987 EuroBasket, finishing on 6th position. The team entered their first Summer Olympics qualification in 1988, but failed to qualify. Their first Olympic games were also on home soil in the 1992 Summer Olympics, finishing 5th.
After failing to qualify for the two previous Eurobaskets and having never played a knockout game in a major tournament, the gold medal at the 1993 EuroBasket came as a surprise, beating the newly formed Slovakia in the semifinals 73–55 and France in the final 63–53. With Blanca Ares as their key player, Spain undoubtedly took advantage of the dissolution of the dominant European teams of Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, and especially the Soviet Union.
The EuroBasket victory gave Spain the right to participate in the 1994 Women's World Cup for the first time, finishing 8th. Since then, the team has qualified for every World Cup -seven in a row-, winning three medals.
From 2001 and up to 2009 Spain entered in a loop of winning five consecutive medals in the Eurobaskets and being eliminated in the quarterfinals in Summer Olympics and World Cups, until they finally won bronze in the 2010 Women's World Cup. From her debut in 1995 to her retirement in 2013, forward Amaya Valdemoro became the leader of the Spanish squad, taking part in 13 tournaments, playing 258 games, winning 7 medals and becoming the topscorer with 2,743 points.
The defeat against Croatia on 26 June in Katowice in the second stage of the 2011 EuroBasket and the consequent absence from the 2012 Olympics has been cited by coaches and players as a catalyst for a golden period of seven consecutive medals. After playing the qualification matches in the summer of 2012, Spain went on to win the 2013 EuroBasket with a balance of 9–0. Afterwards, they won silver in the 2014 Women's World Cup, bronze in the 2015 EuroBasket, silver in the 2016 Summer Olympics and gold again in the 2017 EuroBasket. Spain also won the bronze medal at the 2018 Women's World Cup held on home soil in September 2018. In July 2019 Spain successfully defended their European crown by beating France 86–66 in the final of the EuroBasket Women 2019. These results are quite commendable, considering that Spain have only competed with the world elite for less than two decades. This series of results has taken the Spanish team to be ranked No. 2 in the ranking of FIBA.
In the senior team for almost two decades, captain and record-holder for most caps and most medals, point guard Laia Palau has been a constant presence in final tournaments with 12 medals in 17 final tournaments. In the team since 2008, forward Alba Torrens is regarded as the most talented player of this generation, having won 8 medals in 10 tournaments.
At the Mediterranean Games, Spain won gold in 1991, and bronze in 1993, 2001 and 2005.
Competition record
Olympic Games
FIBA Women's World Cup
EuroBasket Women
Team
Current roster
Roster for the 2020 FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament.Individual records
- Bold denotes players still playing international basketball.
Most capped players
Top scorers
Top highscorers
Top highscorers in official games.| Players | PTS | Opponent | Event | Date | Location |
| Amaya Valdemoro | 39 | 2006 World Cup 2nd Round | 2006.09.18 | São Paulo | |
| Blanca Ares | 36 | 1994 World Cup 2nd Round | 1994.06.10 | Sydney | |
| Amaya Valdemoro | 33 | 2002 World Cup 2nd Round | 2002.09.19 | Suzhou | |
| Rosa Castillo | 32 | 1976 EuroBasket Classification Round | 1976.05.25 | Ferrand Clermont | |
| Rosa Castillo | 32 | 1980 EuroBasket Classification Round | 1980.09.23 | Banjaluka | |
| Rosi Sánchez | 32 | 2002 World Cup Classification Round | 2002.09.25 | Nanjing | |
| Alba Torrens | 32 | 2016 Olympics 1st Round | 2016.08.10 | Rio | |
| Marina Ferragut | 31 | 1999 EuroBasket qualification | 1998.05.15 | Daruvar | |
| Marta Xargay | 31 | 2019 EuroBasket 1st Round | 2019.06.27 | Riga | |
| Rocío Jiménez | 30 | 1978 EuroBasket qualification | 1978.03.23 | Wolfenbuttel | |
| Marta Fernández | 30 | 2003 EuroBasket qualification | 2001.11.25 | Salamanca | |
| Amaya Valdemoro | 30 | 2004 Olympics 1st Round | 2004.08.16 | Athens | |
| Alba Torrens | 30 | 2013 EuroBasket 1st Round | 2013.06.15 | Vannes |
Top medallists
Most medals won with the national team in Olympic Games, Women's World Cups and EuroBaskets:| Player | Medals | Details |
| Laia Palau | 12 |
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| Laura Nicholls | 9 |
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| Anna Cruz | 8 |
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| Silvia Domínguez | 8 |
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| Lucila Pascua | 8 |
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| Alba Torrens | 8 |
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Head coaches
Timeline of head coaches with games and results in final tournaments at the| Years | Name | Competition | ||||
| 1963–1971 | 8 | 3 | 5 |  Cholo Méndez | five friendlies, three qualifiers | |
| 1974–1978 | 50 | 20 | 30 |  Josep María Solà | 12th 1974 EuroBasket 10th 1976 EuroBasket 11th 1978 EuroBasket | |
| 1979 | 3 | 1 | 2 | Chema Buceta | three friendlies | |
| 1979–1984 | 54 | 24 | 30 | María Planas | 10th 1980 EuroBasket 11th 1983 EuroBasket | |
| 1985–1992 | 177 | 91 | 86 | Chema Buceta | 10th 1985 EuroBasket 6th 1987 EuroBasket 5th 1992 Summer Olympics | |
| 1992–1998 | 98 | 65 | 33 | Manolo Coloma | 1993 EuroBasket 8th 1994 Women's World Cup 9th 1995 EuroBasket 5th 1997 EuroBasket 5th 1998 Women's World Cup | |
| 1999–2004 | 79 | 66 | 13 | Vicente Rodríguez | 2001 EuroBasket 5th 2002 Women's World Cup 2003 EuroBasket 6th 2004 Summer Olympics | |
| 2005–2006 | 33 | 23 | 10 | Domingo Díaz | 2005 EuroBasket 8th 2006 Women's World Cup | |
| 2007–2009 | 53 | 39 | 14 | Evaristo Pérez | 2007 EuroBasket 5th 2008 Summer Olympics 2009 EuroBasket | |
| 2010–2011 | 33 | 25 | 8 | José Ignacio Hernández | 2010 Women's World Cup 9th 2011 EuroBasket | |
| 2015 | 2 | 2 | 0 | Víctor Lapeña | two qualifiers | |
| 2012– | 135 | 117 | 18 | Lucas Mondelo | 2013 EuroBasket 2014 Women's World Cup 2015 EuroBasket 2016 Summer Olympics 2017 EuroBasket 2018 Women's World Cup 2019 EuroBasket |
Youth teams
| Europe U-20 | World U-19 | Europe U-18 | World U-17 | Europe U-16 | |
| 2019 | 5th | 5th | Q | ||
| 2018 | 6th | ||||
| 2017 | 8th | 6th | 5th | ||
| 2016 | 6th | ||||
| 2015 | 4th | 4th | |||
| 2014 | |||||
| 2013 | 4th | ||||
| 2012 | 5th | ||||
| 2011 | |||||
| 2010 | 8th | 4th | |||
| 2009 | |||||
| 2008 | 4th | 5th | |||
| 2007 | 4th | ||||
| 2006 | 4th | ||||
| 2005 | 8th | 5th | |||
| 2004 | 9th | ||||
| 2003 | 4th | ||||
| 2002 | 5th | 5th | |||
| 2001 | DNQ | 7th | |||
| 2000 | 5th | 6th | |||
| 1999 | |||||
| 1998 | |||||
| 1997 | 8th | 5th | |||
| 1996 | 4th | ||||
| 1995 | 4th | ||||
| 1994 | |||||
| 1993 | DNQ | ||||
| 1992 | 5th | ||||
| 1991 | 9th | ||||
| 1990 | |||||
| 1989 | 5th | 4th | |||
| 1988 | 6th | ||||
| 1987 | 9th | ||||
| 1986 | 12th | ||||
| 1985 | 7th | 9th | |||
| 1984 | 4th | 7th | |||
| 1983 | 8th | ||||
| 1982 | 8th | ||||
| 1981 | 9th | ||||
| 1980 | 10th | ||||
| 1979 | DNQ | ||||
| 1978 | 11th | ||||
| 1977 | 11th | ||||
| 1976 | 10th | ||||
| 1975 | 6th | ||||
| 1973 | 8th | ||||
| 1965–71 | DNQ |