USA U21 Women Reign Over Spain, 81-62

USA U21 clinch top seed in Group B

July 3, 2007

Jolene Anderson connected three times from beyond the arc against Spain and also managed to get one close in for her total of 11 points. (USA Basketball Photos)

MOSCOW, Russia (July 3, 2007)--With one game remaining in preliminary play at the 2007 FIBA U21 Championship, the USA Basketball U21 World Championship Team (4-0) clinched the top spot in Group B after dropping Spain (1-3) 81-62 on Tuesday afternoon in Moscow. Another overall team effort saw every member of the team score, includingLaura Harper's(Maryland / Elkins Park, Pa.) 13 points,Jolene Anderson(Wisconsin / Port Wing, Wis.) added 11 andEssence Carson(Rutgers / Paterson, N.J.) finished with 10.

"Coming into the game, we knew it was going to be a challenging game," said Harper. "They have a lot of guard play and they were going to stretch out our defense. That's been our focal point up to now. I think we played well, we had two lapses in the second half and that's something that we want to fix. We need to play a more complete game. But overall it was good."

The USA will conclude preliminary round play on July 4 with an 11:15 a.m. (3:15 a.m. EDT) tip against Japan. Today's win assured the U.S. the top spot in Group B for quarterfinals action, where on July 6 the red, white and blue will go up against the fourth placed finisher from Group A. The semifinals will be held on July 7 and the finals are scheduled for July 8.

"Defensively we did some very good things as a team, especially in the first half," said USA U21 National Team and Duke University (N.C.) head coachJoanne P. McCallie. "I really felt that holding them to 24 points in the first half was good, solid defense. But also we got some great work against a zone. Our zone offense was moving the ball, creating more assists, creating more opportunities. I really thought we had a lot of good free throw opportunities, as well as getting the ball inside. We didn't capitalize on all of them, but that's a good sign and prepares us well for future zones."

After a sluggish start from both sides, Carsonmade the second of two free throws at 7:57 for the game's first point. The young Americans, putting pressure on their opponents, held Spain scoreless for the first 4:36 of the contest and allowed the Spaniards their fourth and final field goal of the quarter at 1:27. The USA was ahead 15-9 at that point and the squad strung together a 9-0 run to close the quarter with a 24-9 lead.

Spain was able to chip away at the USA's lead and with 4:42 left in the half the USA's hold on Spain was 33-22. With its defense forcing Spain into turnovers and bad shots, the Americans once again closed out the quarter on a charge, receiving points from four different players in an 11-2 run and at halftime it was a 20-point, 44-24, ball game.

In what was an all-around first half effort, eight of the USA's players scored, including six with no less than five points apiece. The U.S. also already held a commanding lead on the glass, 28-11 and forced Spain into nine turnovers.

"I don't think you can scout our team with just a few players like you do other (teams)," saidMarscilla Packer(Ohio State / Pickerington, Ohio), who scored eight points in the contest. "Everyone can come in and effect you in different ways."

Spain started the second half by forcing the Americans into six turnovers in the third quarter and cut the USA's advantage down to 59-44.

However, Anderson hit a three with 9:05 to play against Spain's zone to jump-start the fourth quarter. Following a Spanish basketCandice Wiggins(Stanford / San Diego, Calif.) skipped a pass across the court to Anderson as she rendered Spain's zone ineffective by nailing her second consecutive three and with 8:18 to play as the U.S. went ahead 65-46. Continuing to keep Spain at bay, the young Americans closed out their fourth game in five days with another win.

Courtney Paris'(Oklahoma / Piedmont, Calif.) 10 rebounds led another dominating USA performance on the glass.DeWannaBonner(Auburn / Fairfield, Ala.) grabbed seven boards and Harper andKia Vaughn(Rutgers / Bronx, N.Y.) each hauled in six boards as the U.S. outrebounded Spain 46-26, including grabbing 23 on the offensive end.