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The WNBA stars have earned the final three spots on the U.S. women's basketball team going to the Olympics, a person familiar with the choices told The Associated Press.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because an official announcement was planned for Thursday.
Catchings would have been among the original nine picks in May had she not been slow to recover after tearing her right Achilles' tendon last September. She started all eight games in Athens on the gold medal-winning 2004 Olympic team, averaging 6.9 points and 5.4 rebounds. She also had 22 steals.
"She's definitely a no-brainer," U.S. coach Anne Donovan said when the initial choices were announced May 31. "We just have to see if she was healthy."
Catchings returned from her injury on June 15 and has averaged 10.0 points for the Indiana Fever this season.
Milton-Jones will bolster an already strong front court that features three-time Olympic gold medalist Lisa Leslie, Tina Thompson, Candace Parker and Sylvia Fowles.
Milton-Jones was on the 2000 Olympic team that won gold in Sydney, and would have been on the Athens roster had she not been injured right before those games. She is averaging 13.8 points and 6.6 rebounds for the Los Angeles Sparks this season.
Lawson, who averages 10.5 points for Sacramento, will be making her first Olympic appearance. She will provide depth in a crowded backcourt of Sue Bird, Katie Smith, Diana Taurasi, Seimone Augustus and Cappie Pondexter.
The Olympic team will get together for the first time as a group in San Francisco at the end of July for a short training camp before heading over to China to play in a pre-Olympic tournament. The U.S. opens its Olympic play on Aug. 9 against the Czech Republic.
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