USA Women's U19 Team Captures Tournament Title In Canary Islands
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The USA(3-0) finished atop the standings in the pre-U19 World Championship Tournament, hosted by the La Palma Basketball Federation, followed by Spain (2-1), Australia (1-2) and Brazil (0-3).
'We didn�t come out with any intensity, and we played a soft first two quarters,' said USA U19 and DePaul University (Ill.) head coach Doug Bruno. 'The coaches made a decision at halftime to take advantage of our athleticism and use a full-court pressure defense. We wanted to slow Spain down and jumpstart some momentum and intensity on our side of the ball. It worked, and then we started to execute a little bit better in our half-court offense.
'This pre-competition tournament has been very useful for us because we have such a young group. They needed to experience all the adversity we�ve dealt with, the tough travel and arriving just a few hours before our first game, before we travel to play in the world championship. Every single player on the team has done some good things, and now it is about finding consistency.'
Bruno is assisted on the sidelines by Cynthia Cooper-Dyke of Prairie View A&M University (Texas) and Carol Owens of Northern Illinois University.
As the USA battled Spain through the first half, the lead changed eight times and the score was tied on five occasions, including a 32-32 mark at 1:04 in the second period. But with just seconds left before halftime, Spain�s Veronica Oliva sank a buzzer-beating jumper to send the USA to its locker room down 34-32.
The Americans, however, responded with a monster 18-2 run to start the third-quarter, spurred in part by the USA�s full-court, man-to-man pressure, and the score was 50-39 with 3:13 on the clock. During the U.S. onslaught,
Monica Wright (Virginia / Woodbridge, Va.) scored six of her 11 points and Jantel Lavender (Cleveland Central Catholic H.S. / Cleveland, Ohio) scored four of her team-high 14 points. But Brazil answered with it�s own 12-7 run to close the period, and the U.S. lead was 57-51 headed into the final stanza.
The USA also came out firing in the fourth quarter, with a 10-4 run to start the period that included four points from
Spain never gave up, but could get no closer than the final score�s eight-point margin, and the scoreboard read 79-71 as the final buzzer sounded.
'With the little bit of practice we�ve had, this tournament gave us the chance to learn to play as a team before we have to compete in the world championship,' said Jasmine Thomas (Oakton H.S. / Fairfax, Va.).'And today�s game was against the home team, Spain, which gave us the chance to get used to a crowd that isn�t rooting for the USA to win. This team has overcome a lot of adversity and we�ve learned how to play through it and play together.'
In addition to Lavender and Wright, the USA was helped by 11 points and nine rebounds from Moore; and eight points from Melissa Lechlitner (Notre Dame / Mishawaka, Ind.), Jasmine Thomas and Italee Lucas (Centennial H.S. / Las Vegas, Nev.). Victoria Baugh (Sacramento H.S. / Sacramento, Calif.) added seven points and six rebounds.
Spain was led by 16 points from Oliva, 14 from Tamara Herrera and 13 from Laura Nichols.
With exhibition play concluded, the USA U19 women depart July 22 for Bratislava, Slovakia, and the 2007 FIBA U19 World Championship, which will be contested July 26-Aug. 5.
The USA opens U19 World Championship play on July 26 against Ivory Coast and then will face China on July 27 before concluding preliminary round play on July 28 against Lithuania. The second round will be contested July 30-Aug.1, the quarterfinals are slated for Aug. 3, semifinals will be held Aug. 4 and the gold medal will be contested July 5.
The USA qualified for the 2007 U19 World Championship after Bruno, as the USA�s head coach, led the U18 squad to a 4-0 slate and gold medal at the zone qualifier, the 2006 FIBA Americas U18 Championship for Women. The event was hosted by USA Basketball at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Originally known as the FIBA Junior World Championship, the tournament is held every four years and was first held in 1985. USA women's teams are 32-10 in the U19/Junior World Championships, capturing gold with an 8- record most recently in 2005.
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