COLORADO SPRINGS (2016 Rio Olympics) - The United States have announced their women's team is to play in some glitzy warm-up games for the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in July.

The Americans, led by coach Geno Auriemma, are to host Australia, Canada and France in a four-team, three-stop tournament from 27-31 July in Newark, Delaware, Bridgeport, Connecticut and New York.

The USA, No. 1 in the FIBA World Ranking, will face No. 2 Australia, No. 9 Canada and No. 4 France in the USA Basketball Showcase which tips off at the University of Delaware’s Bob Carpenter Center on 27 July. Australia will play Canada in the first game and the USA will square off against France in the second.

The opener on 29 July at the Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport will between Australia and France, while the USA are to take on Canada, last year's FIBA Americas Women Championship winners, in the nightcap.

The third and final day of the tournament will be at Madison Square Garden in New York with Canada meeting France for an early afternoon tip-off and the USA then meeting Australia later in the afternoon.

The USA qualified for Rio when they won the 2014 FIBA Women's World Championship.

Auriemma is excited about the prospect of facing excellent opposition before his team plays at the Rio Olympics.

"This tournament with Australia, Canada and France, three of the top teams in the world, is an incredible opportunity for our team to prepare for Rio," Auriemma said.

"I think each of these games will be competitive and be a really, really good preview of what you'll see in August at the Olympics. Two years ago we were able to play games at Delaware and Bridgeport, and the fan support at both of those games was tremendous.

"Then when you add Madison Square Garden into the mix, what better way to give our team a final send-off before Rio? I’m excited about getting our team together, we haven’t had a chance to practice yet with just these 12 players, but they've all played together and I think they will show the fans something special in each of these three games."

France, the team the USA beat in the 2012 Olympic Final, have yet to book their spot in the Rio Games. They will host the FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament (WOQT) from 13-19 June and look to claim one of the five berths for the Olympics that will be on offer.

FIBA