USA Women’s National Team Runs Away With 77-48 Victory Over Famila Schio
Related Images
Monte di Procida, Italy. • Sept. 30, 2011
- Box Score
- Additional Quotes
Five of the USA’s seven healthy players contributed double-digit scoring efforts as the 2011 USA Basketball Women’s National Team (1-0) kicked-off its five-game exhibition schedule by dismantling last season’s Italian league champion Famila Schio (0-1) 77-48 in Monte di Procida, Italy. In the second game of the night, Ros Casares Valencia (1-0) took down host Pallacanestro Pozzuoli (0-1) 79-54.
Playing in her first international game, Brittney Griner (Baylor University) led all scorers with 15 points; Swin Cash (Seattle Storm), Tina Charles (Connecticut Sun) and Renee Montgomery (Connecticut Sun) added 12 points apiece; Cappie Pondexter (New York Liberty) scored 11; while Sophia Young (San Antonio Silver Stars) and Danielle Robinson (San Antonio Silver Stars) chipped in eight and seven points, respectively. Asjha Jones (Connecticut Sun) has a sore right knee, did not play and is listed as day-to-day.
The U.S. will face Ros Casares in the championship game of the Pozzouli-hosted tournament at 8:00 p.m. (2:00 p.m. EDT) Saturday night. While the games are not televised in the U.S., fans can get in-game updates via USA Basketball’s Facebook and Twitter accounts at facebook.com/usabasketball and twitter.com/usabasketball, respectively.
“All-in-all, I didn’t know what to expect in this game after just being with these guys for two days, but I’m really thrilled with the way we played,” said Geno Auriemma, 2009-12 USA National Team and University of Connecticut head coach. “We just beat a really, really, really good team. Probably the best team here in Italy. I’m really pleased. I really am.
“There were stretches where we worked really, really hard and we made a lot of hustle plays. Swin (Cash), especially, kept a lot of things moving for us and everybody took turns contributing. You look at the box score, it’s pretty even. We didn’t really rely on any one person.”
The USA struck first with a Charles jumper and never trailed in the game. Owning just a two-point, 9-7, edge, Charles got a put-back at 5:31 in the first quarter, sparking a 6-0 spurt that expanded the lead to 15-7. Following a bucket by Schio’s Janel McCarville, Griner outscored the Italian squad 8-3, including a pair of traditional three-point plays, and the U.S. held a 23-12 lead at the first-quarter buzzer.
“I don’t think they really were expecting me (laughs),” Griner replied regarding her first-quarter play. “But, my team did a great job … we just did a great job working with each other, feeding each other and they found me when I worked and got open.”
Throughout most of the second quarter the USA’s lead hovered between eight and 10 points and a Cash put-back with 37 seconds before halftime gave her side its largest lead of the half, 40-28. Neither side was able to convert in the waning seconds, and the Americans headed to the locker room with the 12-point advantage.
The U.S. picked up in the second half where it left off. In the first four minutes of the third quarter, five different players put points on the board, as the lead ballooned to 49-32. Schio’s coach called for a time out to regroup his squad, but the red, white and blue proved too much to handle and by the end of the third quarter, the game was well in hand, 65-40.
Allowing just three field goals on the defensive end in the fourth quarter, the Americans, who won all four quarters, finished out the game with the 77-48 victory.
Cash, who saw the most playing time with 39 minutes, was the USA’s leading rebounder with nine boards. Charles grabbed eight, while Young and Griner, who had the team’s only two blocked shots, hauled in seven rebounds each.
“It’s taxing (playing with just two subs), knowing that we just finished a whole season of WNBA, but it’s about USA Basketball at the end of the day,” said Pondexter. “There’s a lot of pride in wearing that jersey and representing the country that we live in. You try to give everything that you’ve got, no matter if you’ve got one sub, two subs, three subs, whatever.”
The U.S., which outrebounded its opponents 36-20, only had 11 turnovers and was credited with 17 steals out of Schio’s 23 turnovers. Scoring over half its points in the paint (46 points), the USA converted on 48.4 percent (30-62 FGs) of its shots from the field, but only hit 68.2 percent (15-22 FTs) from the charity stripe.
Tonight’s game was the first ever for Griner and Young in a USA Basketball uniform and both relished the opportunity to play for their country.
“I put on my jersey today for the first time right before the game and I was beyond words,” said Young, who was sworn in as a U.S. citizen 28 days ago. “I was speechless and I was like, ‘I pretty much can’t believe that I’m here.’ I just was thinking God for the opportunity, regardless of what comes out of it, the opportunity is amazing. To be here, representing the USA is an honor. I feel blessed. I feel privileged that they would even give me an opportunity to come three weeks after getting my citizenship. It says a lot about USA Basketball and I’m honored that I’m here.”
Schio was led by Rafaella Masciardi with 14 points and Liron Cohen had 10. Schio’s two Americans, McCarville and Cheryl Ford scored two points each.
Following the tournament in Italy, the U.S. travels to Valencia, Spain, where it will take on Ros Casares, current champion of the Spanish league, on Oct. 5; then face 2011 Czech league champion ZVVZ-USK Prague in the Czech Republic on Oct. 8; and close out the tour in Hungary against Hungarian Cup and Hungarian Championship winners UNIQA-Euroleasing Sopron on Oct. 9.
Doug Bruno (DePaul University), Jennifer Gillom, who will also serve as an assistant coach for the 2011 USA Pan American Games Team, are assisting Auriemma and the USA National Team during its 2011 European tour.
Four-time defending Olympic gold medalists, the U.S. will look to capture a fifth straight gold medal and extend its 33-game Olympic winning streak at the 2012 Olympic Summer Games in London. The Olympic basketball competition will be held July 28-Aug. 12 in the Olympic Park Basketball Arena and North Greenwich Arena. Four countries have claimed spots in the eventual 12-nation field, including host country Great Britain; the United States, which earned its berth by virtue of earning the gold medal at the 2010 FIBA World Championship; China, winner of the 2011 FIBA Asia Championship; and Russia, winner of the 2011 EuroBasket. Three additional teams will earn spots this year by claiming gold at the remaining two zone qualifying tournaments, FIBA Africa and FIBA Oceania, while the final five teams will earn their spots at the 2012 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament (June 21-July 1 at a site TBD).
USABasketball.com is part of the NBA network of websites.