USA U19 Women Down Czech Republic 85-66, Advance To World Championship Semifinals

Twenty-five points from Jantel Lavender (Cleveland Central Catholic H.S. / Cleveland, Ohio), 13 from Maya Moore (Collins Hill H.S. / Lawrenceville, Ga.) and a 12-point, 11-rebound outing from Allyssa DeHaan (Michigan State / Grandville, Mich.) led the USA U19 Women (7-0) past Czech Republic (3-4) 85-66 and into the World Championship semifinals Friday in Bratislava, Slovakia.

'When we understand tempo, like we did at times tonight, we are a very good basketball team, and we defended extremely well today,' said USA U19 and DePaul University (Ill.) head coach Doug Bruno. 'Allyssa DeHaan was an unbelievable force off the bench. She was really a big-time difference maker. This was the first game we have been able to play Allyssa and Jantel together, and it was very effective today. And you can�t say enough about Maya�s ability to lock up the opposing team�s best player.'

The USA and Czech Republic traded scores during the first period, including four lead changes, and after a 3-pointer from Czech�s Kamila Stepanova with just 30 seconds on the clock, the USA trailed by two, 23-21, headed into the second period.

The red, white and blue, however, responded with a 15-4 run to open the second period that Lavender kicked off with a bucket in the paint at 9:38 and Krystal Thomas (The First Academy / Orlando, Fla.) capped with two of her own at 5:34 to bring the U.S. advantage to nine, 36-27. Czech Republic answered with a 10-6 run to close the period, but the USA led 42-37 at halftime.

'We weren't really satisfied with the first half, and we kind of had our heads down a little,' Moore said. 'But the coaches reminded us we had won the first half and told us to cut down the turnovers and continue to play tough defense. In the second half, we came out with more energy, and we knew the game was ours to take.'

Another U.S. run, this time a 15-6 advantage that included six points from Moore and five from Jasmine Thomas (Oakton H.S. / Fairfax, Va.), opened the third period to bring the U.S. lead to 57-43 with 3:40 on the clock, and the game�s result never again was in question.

Lavender also collected nine rebounds; while Jasmine Thomas added 11 points, six rebounds and four assists; Krystal Thomas contributed six points and nine rebounds; Vicki Baugh (Sacramento H.S. / Sacramento, Calif.) grabbed eight boards; Monica Wright (Virginia / Woodbridge, Va.) scored seven points; and DeHaan added five blocked shots.

'My role on this team is to rebound and block shots, and I was on defensively tonight.' DeHaan said. 'My goal was to not let anybody in the paint. With defense comes offense, and it just kind of flowed tonight. My teammates found me when I was open.'

Czech Republic was led by 18 points from Katerina Elhotova Elhotova and 10 points from both Romana Hejdova and Lenka Sipova. Next up for the USA is a semifinal matchup with Spain (5-2) Saturday, Aug. 2, at 8:15 p.m., local time, which is +6 hours from Eastern Daylight Time. The USA has twice beaten Spain in the past two weeks: 74-66 on July 31 in second-round action of the U19 World Championship and 79-71 in exhibition play in the Canary Islands on July 21.

'We have been focused this entire tournament.' Jasmine Thomas said. 'We are all really excited to get to the semifinals, but we are still just trying to win one game at a time. Spain is always going to be a tough matchup, and this will be our third meeting. Everyone is going to come to play because it's a get-to-the-gold game.'

The winner of USA vs. Spain will advance to the gold medal game, which 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.