NINTH FIBA U19 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP — 2011

Puerto Montt, Chile • July 21-31, 2011

Winners of the previous three and four of the past five FIBA U19 World Championship for Women, the U.S. squad, headed by University of Hartford’s Jennifer Rizzotti, headed to Puerto Montt, Chile, determined to keep the gold-medal streak alive.

2011 USA Women's U19 World Championship Team 2011 USA RESULTS (8-1) USA 85 Japan 63 USA 76 Russia 53 USA 83 Argentina 49 USA 80 China 77 USA 94 Italy 60 Canada 64 USA 52 USA 70 France 64 USA 82 Brazil 66 USA 69 Spain 46 2011 U19 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL STANDINGS 1. USA (8-1) 9. China (4-4) 2. Spain (5-4) 10. Italy (3-5) 3. Brazil (7-2) 11. Taiwan (3-5) 4. Australia (6-3) 12. Chile (1-7) 5. Canada (8-1) 13. Argentina (2-3) 6. France (6-3) 14. Slovenia (1-4) 7. Japan (4-5) 15. Egypt (1-4) 8. Russia (3-6) 16. Nigeria (0-5) Note: Nigeria was unable to make it to the tournament and forfeited its games.

Featuring a young team loaded with talent, all 12 members had previously won gold medals, including seven at the inaugural 2010 FIBA U17 World Championship and five from the 2010 FIBA Americas U18 Championship.

The American women got down to business from the start as they defeated Japan 85-63. Bria Hartley was 3-of-4 from 3-point land to pace the U.S. with 18 points.

Diamond DeShields poured in a game-high 16 points to lead the USA in its second game, a 76-53 victory over Russia.

The USA, paced by 12 points from Breanna Stewart, ran away with a 83-49 victory over Argentina to close preliminary round play atop Group B.

In a game that went down to the wire, the U.S. remained undefeated as it clipped a determined China squad 80-77 to open the second round. The USA was paced to the win by Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis and Hartley, who scored 19 and 18 points, respectively, on a combined 9-of-16 from beyond the arc.

The Americnas opened up a 31-13 lead in the first quarter and went on to produce a lopsided 94-60 victory over Italy. This time it was Cierra Burdick’s turn to lead the team as she came off the bench for a game-high 17 points.

Turnovers and cold shooting plagued the U.S. from the start as Canada handed the U.S. its first loss, 64-52, to close second round play. Ariel Massengale was the only U.S. player to score in double digits and finished with 17 points. The U.S., which fell behind by double digits early, finished the game with 24 miscues and a 36.1 shooting percentage, its lowest of the tournament.

Despite the setback, the U.S. was still in the medal hunt and was paced by 21 points, including 10 in the fourth quarter, from Stewart, as it came from behind for a 70-64 victory over France in the quarterfinals. Down by 13 points early, the U.S. never gave up, took a two-point lead on a pair of Stewart free throws with 1:04 to go and pulled out the six-point win.

The U.S. took the lead in the first quarter and never looked back as it knocked off Brazil 82-66 to advance to the gold medal game. Hartley led the U.S. for the second time in the tournament with 20 points.

The USA wasted no time in jumping out to a 25-15 early advantage and rolling to a 69-46 victory over Spain for the gold medal. Stefanie Dolson, Mosqueda-Lewis and Elizabeth Williams shared game-high scoring honors with 15 points apiece; while Massengale and Stewart were named to the five-member All-FIBA U19 World Championship Team.

Brazil nipped Australia 70-67 for the bronze medal, its first medal of any kind in U19 World Championship history.

2011 USA WOMEN'S U19 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM ROSTER

2011 USA WOMEN'S U19 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM CUMULATIVE STATISTICS