Preview >> USA Women vs. Senegal

Sept. 24 • Ostrava, Czech Republic

• Complete Game Notes (PDF)

USA (1-0)
Senegal (0-1)

TV: Live on NBA TV, 12:00 p.m.
*All times listed are Eastern Daylight Time.

In the 2010 World Championship
Senegal fell to France 83-45 in its opening contest of the FIBA World Championship on Sept. 23, receiving team-highs of 10 points from Aya Traore and 11 rebounds from Aminata Diop.

Sept. 23: France 83, Senegal 45 • Stats

A Little History
Senegal finished a perfect 8-0 in the FIBA Africa Championship in 2009 to qualify for the 2010 Worlds. In six world championship appearances overall, Senegal has compiled a 5-31 record, and it's best finish came in 1998, when it placed 14th out of 16 teams. Most recently, in 2006, Senegal placed 15th out of 16 teams with a 1-4 record.

The USA is 3-0 against Senegal in World Championship play, including a 77-48 win the last time the two teams met in a World Championship in 1998, a 106-36 win in 1990 and a 89-33 victory in 1975.

Just a few weeks ago, the USA played an exhibition contest against Senegal in Salamanca, Spain, recording a 93-51 win.

Players To Watch
Diodio Diouf was the only Senegal player to record double digits against the USA last week during exhibition play, while Aya Traore (10 points) and Aminata Diop (11 rebounds) led their team in its first contest of the 2010 Worlds against France. Traore starred for Senegal in 2009, earning MVP honors at the FIBA Africa world championship qualifier.

Bruno

The Scouting Report

USA Assistant Coach Doug Bruno (DePaul University)
What is the game plan against Senegal?
We weren't happy that we had to play them during our exhibition schedule in Spain because we had hoped to beat Australia and then get Spain on their home court. We gave Senegal six threes in the first half, and that's a priority for us defensively tomorrow -- to not give up threes. Yesterday against Greece, we gave up 11 threes, so we have to fix that. I think that's going to be a key for tomorrow's game.

What about the USA's offense?
On the offensive side of the ball, I think what coach is looking for is just the cohesion to continue to grow since we are just still so new together. You saw signs of it against Greece. We actually had a lot of great possessions, so we just want to continue to grow that tomorrow.

After a big win in against Senegal in exhibition play, how do you keep the team focused?
You know, they played us even in the third quarter of our game against them. That's been another place where we have to improve. We have some great quarters and sometimes two great quarters in a row, and then we take a quarter off. You saw that again against Greece. We were up 17 at halftime, and then after the third quarter, we were still up by 17, so Greece played us even. That's another place we need to improve. We won't be able to get away with that as we get deeper into this tournament.