USA Women's U19 World Championship Team Advances To Quarterfinal Round With Perfect 6-0 Record After 84-60 Win Over Host Slovakia

'I thought tonight we were a lot better than we have been at understanding tempo,' said USA U19 and DePaul University (Ill.) head coach Doug Bruno. 'We ran we needed to run, and we executed our half court offense when we needed to.'

Slovakia was able to match each U.S. score for the first six minutes of the game, thanks to 11 first-quarter points from Regina Palusna, and the score was an even 13-13 just six minutes into the game. But a jumper from Italee Lucas (Centennial H.S. / Las Vegas, Nev.) at 4:16 sparked a 12-4 run that concluded when Lucas nailed a buzzer-beater from midcourt to close the first period with the USA up 25-17.

'I think tonight's game was much easier to win because everyone we were sharing the ball,' Lucas said. 'And our defense was more intense because we felt like we had something to prove.'

Jantel Lavender (Cleveland Central Catholic H.S. / Cleveland, Ohio) scored the first two points of the second quarter, but Slovakia responded with seven straight points, including five from Lucia Krc-Turbova, to cut the lead to 27-24 at 8:45. That was as close as the host team would ever get, and from there it was all USA. Another basket from Lavender at 8:05 launched a 22-10 U.S. run that included six points from Maya Moore (Collins Hill H.S. / Lawrenceville, Ga.) and two 3-pointers from Angie Bjorklund (University H.S. / Spokane, Wash.), and the USA headed into the locker room at halftime with a 15-point, 49-34 lead.

'Tonight was a huge test for us, playing against the home team in front of the home crowd,' Lavender said. 'I think we handled it well. At halftime when we had a 15-point lead, I knew we had the game under control and all we had to do was sustain it. We just played defense, and we kept our lead.'

The USA went on to outscore Slovakia 22-20 in the third period and then 13-6 in the fourth to bring the score to the final 86-60.

In addition to Moore�s 24 points and six rebounds and Lavender�s 14 points and 11 rebounds:

Bjorklund scored 11 points; Krystal Thomas (The First Academy / Orlando, Fla.) added eight points and seven rebounds; Melissa Lechlitner (Notre Dame / Mishawaka, Ind.) added eight points and five assists to four steals and four rebounds; and Lucas contributed seven points.

'Being forced to sit yesterday because of foul trouble was definitely motivation for me to come out tonight and stay out of foul trouble, so I could stay in the game,' Moore said. 'I'm proud of the team for tonight's win. We are learning to control the tempo better.'

Slovakia�s Palusna finished with 21 points and Krc-Turbova scored 12.

FIBA is expected to confirm game times on Thursday, but the No. 1 seed USA is set to face No. 4 Czech Republic on Friday in the tournament quarterfinals.

'It's nice to be 6-0, but 6-0 is really meaningless in the broader picture of what we came here to do, which is win gold,' Bruno said. 'All of our focus is on the Czech Republic right now.'

The 2007 U19 World Championship semifinals will be played Aug. 4 and the gold medal will be contested Aug. 5.

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.