USA Women's U19 World Championship Team Earns Hard-Fought 74-66 Victory Over Spain

July 31, 2007 // Bratislava, Slovakia

'We were lucky tonight because we put ourselves in a position through unintelligent play to lose, yet we gutted out a win when it came down to crunch time,' said USA U19 and DePaul University head coach Doug Bruno. 'When we needed to make plays we did. When I say unintelligent play, I'm not talking about unintelligent players. I'm talking about having nine players who will be college freshmen in the fall. We really don't have an understanding yet of how to differentiate between our open court game and our halfcourt game. That's our big challenge.'

Headed into the fourth quarter, the scoreboard read an even 52-52.  The USA had outscored Spain 23-20 in first period, Spain outscored the USA 17-14 in the second period and both teams tallied 15 points in the third.

But just 15 seconds into the fourth quarter, a 3-pointer from Spain�s Jael Freixanet sparked a 7-4 Spain run that left the score   59-56 in Spain�s advantage with 8:23 on the clock. Over the next four minutes, however, Spain scored just two points while the USA tallied seven, including two points from Vicki Baugh (Sacramento H.S. / Sacramento, Calif.) and Lavender, and a deep three from Jasmine Thomas (Oakton H.S. / Fairfax, Va.), to recapture a 63-61 lead with 4:21 remaining.

'The third quarter was an average quarter for us, and we ended up tied again, right back where we had started,' Maya Moore (Collins Hill H.S. / Lawrenceville, Ga.) said. 'But the fourth quarter we came together and Jasmine hit a big three for us and our energy level really picked up.'

Spain attempted to stop the onslaught with a timeout at 3:41, but behind five more points from Lavender, the USA outscored Spain 11-5 to finish the game and secure a 74-66 win.

'I think I was just a lot stronger than their post players,' Lavender said. 'They let me get in front of them, so I was just posting them up. It was simple. I realized in the first quarter they couldn't stop me, and in the second half, they didn't change anything, so I just kept taking it to the rim.'

In addition to Lavender, who recorded a double-double with 13 rebounds, the USA was led by 19 points and five rebounds from Moore; nine points, seven assists and five steals from Monica Wright (Virginia / Woodbridge, Va.); eight points and four rebounds from Baugh; six points and five assists from Jasmine Thomas; and six rebounds and blocked four shots from Allyssa DeHaan (Michigan State / Grandville, Mich.).

Spain�s Alba Torrens led her team with 18 points, followed by Anna Carbo with 17, including 7-of-7 from the free throw line, and 12 points from Tamara Abalde.

In today�s earlier action, Japan (2-3) secured 13th place with a 74-72 win over Argentina (1-4), who finished 14th; and Mali (1-4) topped Ivory Coast (0-5) 63-32 to claim 15th place finish, with the Ivory Coast placing 16th in the 2007 FIBA U19 World Championship For Women.

Bruno is assisted on the sidelines by Cynthia Cooper-Dyke of Prairie View A&M University (Texas) and Carol Owens of Northern Illinois University.

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 8-0 record most recently in 2005.