FIFTEENTH PAN AMERICAN GAMES -- 2007

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - July 20-24, 2007

Youth was a fine substitute for experience at the 2007 Women's Pan American Games. Comprised of college women who had the task of going against many foreign pros, the USA women, the youngest team in the field, became the first U.S. team to claim gold since 1987. The red, white and blue outscored host Brazil 30-13 in the fourth quarter of its July 24 championship tilt to capture a 79-66 win. Cuba (3-2) finished third.

2007 USA Women's Pan American Games Team 2007 USA RESULTS (5-0) USA 95 Colombia 41 USA 85 Argentina 54 USA 78 Cuba 63 USA 75 Canada 59 USA 79 Brazil 66 2007 PAN AMERICAN GAMES FINAL STANDINGS 1. USA (5-0) 2. Brazil (4-1) 3. Cuba (3-2) 4. Canada (2-3) 5. Colombia (3-2) 6. Argentina (1-4) 7. Mexico (1-4) 8. Jamaica (1-4)

In her first USA Basketball assignment as a head coach, Dawn Staley did what she always does - win. Staley, a five-time gold medal winner and three-time Olympian, improves her coaching record to 17-2 after spending last year as an assistant.

Matee Ajavon paced the U.S. in its opening 95-41 wallop of Colombia. Ajavon scored 15 points, and the red, white and blue sprung out to a 17-4 advantage five minutes into the contest, holding an 18-point lead, 32-14, after the first quarter.

In charge 78-35 after three quarters, Team USA posted its largest advantage - 55 points - in the fourth quarter of the contest. Nine players scored at least five points.

Emily Fox highlighted the red, white and blue scoring in game two, an 85-54 defeat of Argentina. Fox deposited 18 points off the bench. Team USA led 45-15 at the half after shooting 49 percent overall and 50 percent (8-of-16) from long range. Nicky Anosike and Marissa Coleman had the most hauls off the glass with eight boards each, as the team doubled its opponents' rebounding totals.

Coleman tallied 19 points, as the USA took down two-time defending Pan-Am champ Panama 78-63 to improve to 3-0. Tasha Humphrey scored nine points in the third quarter, and the USA put the game out of reach with a 10-4 run to start the fourth quarter.

Canada put pressure on the red, white and blue early in game four, mounting a nine-point lead early in the first period. That was the largest deficit the U.S. faced during the competition, but Angel McCoughtry took care of it, putting her team in front for good with five points near the seven-minute mark in the second quarter en route to a 75-59 semifinal victory.

Playing in front of a host Brazilian crowd with the title on the line, Team USA hopped on the Ajavon express and did whatever they could along the way to help Matee out in a 79-66 gold medal win. Ajavon started slow with only three points in the first half, but she and her teammates sped off to a furious finish.

Both teams churned along to a 34-33 Brazil halftime advantage. Then Ajavon kicked her game into gear, scoring seven points in a 12-1 USA burst that gave the team a 44-40 advantage with 5:40 left in the third. Brazil, however, regained a 53-49 lead after three stanzas following a 13-5 run.

This time McCoughtry sparked another 12-1 run that began at the start of the fourth and lasted until the midway point. Brazil reduced the current 63-56 deficit to 65-62 with 3:27 to play, but Humphrey's three and Ajavon's lay-up ended any threat as the two-minute mark approached.

Avajon finished with 27 points on 11-of-18 shooting from the field. That performance ranks tied for fifth for single game scoring by a USA player in the Pan Ams. Her 11 made field goals tied the USA record for most made field goals in a game.

2007 USA Women's Pan American Games Roster

2007 USA Women's Pan American Games Cumulative Statistics