Courtesy of USABasketball.com
SIBENIK, Croatia — In what was a battle to the end, the USA Young Women’s National Team (7-1) pulled out a 71-55 gold medal victory over its South American rivals Brazil (6-2) at the 2003 FIBA World Championship Young Women on Sunday night in Sibenik, Croatia. LSU’s Seimone Augustus was named MVP of the tournament after pacing the United States to the gold medal with 18 points.
The win avenged the USA’s only loss, a 73-60 setback to Brazil on July 27 in preliminary play. In the bronze medal game, France took off in the fourth quarter and surpassed host Croatia 80-66.
In addition to Augustus, Alana Beard (Duke / Shreveport, La.) and Christi Thomas (Georgia / Buford, Ga.) were named to the 2003 All-FIBA World Championship For Young Women Team. France’s Celine Dumerc and Brazil’s Erika de Souza rounded out the five-member squad.
“It’s hard to explain what this thing is sometimes. It’s a month of preparations and I’ve done it often enough to know that if you have a quality group, you have a chance to get a gold medal,” said USA and Ohio State University head coach Jim Foster. “They had great character and Seimone Augustus and Christi Thomas stepped up today, Alana Beard was consistent defensively. Seimone, for being the youngest player on the team, made a lot of big shots and a lot of big plays.”
“I kept thinking about the gold medal, the gold medal at the end of the game,” said Augustus. “That’s all I could think about during the course of the game. It feels great and now that I have it, I’m not taking it off. I’m going to wear it home.”
The first quarter was a tight affair that saw the score knotted thrice and the lead changed hands five times. Following a Brazilian jumper to start the game, the USA took off on a 7-0 run that ended at 7:45 with Shawntinice Polk’s (Arizona / Hanford, Calif.) first points of the game. But Brazil called a time out, regrouped and at 6:26 had taken an 8-7 lead. It went back and forth from there and with 1:10 remaining in the period Brazil nailed its fourth 3-pointer of the game to tie it up at 18 apiece. But during the final 47 seconds of the quarter Kendra Wecker (Kansas State / Marysville, Kan.) hit a floating jumper and Thomas made a pair of free throws and the USA finished the first 10 minutes of action with a 22-18 lead, one that it would never relinquish.
Thomas kicked off the second quarter with a put-back at 9:38 and after 3:20 of play the USA was still in front by four, 26-22. Behind four points from Augustus, the United States scored nine straight points, jumping out to a 35-22 lead with 3:43 remaining in the half. By the midway buzzer the USA’s lead had ballooned to 44-30.
Brazil’s gold medal hopes were done in by poor shooting. While the Americans were busy making 18-of-35 shots from the field for a 51.4 percent accuracy, Brazil struggled and made just 10-of-35 tries overall for a frigid 28.6 percentage. Brazil managed to stay in contention in the first half thanks to its 3-point shooting as it made 6-of-11 3-pointers.
Polk scored a pair of layups in a 6-1 run to start the third quarter to give the U.S. its largest lead of the contest, 50-31, at the 6:40 mark. However, Brazil refused to go away and zoomed back with the help of a 16-4 run and with 1:38 remaining in the third quarter, the USA’s advantage had been shaved to 54-47. Augustus nailed a 3-pointer and Brazil and the U.S. each made a field goal to end the third period with the U.S. on top 59-49.
Tight defense on both ends kept the fourth quarter scoreless until Brazil’s Ana Flavia Sackis made both her free throws at the 6:52 mark. Cappie Pondexter (Rutgers / Chicago, Ill.) ended the USA’s fourth quarter scoring drought with a 19-footer at 6:32 to up the score to 61-51, and with that, the U.S. was revived as four different players scored during a 10-4 run and the United States came away with the gold medal win.
“I thought the fourth quarter was like a classic heavyweight fight,” stated Foster. “Both teams had thrown all their punches and leaning on each other. And whoever got the second wind was going to win the game, and we got our second wind. Seimone made a big basket or two, Christi Thomas made a big basket or two and Cappie did some very good things for us and that gave us the energy we needed to finish it out.”
While Augustus spirited the USA’s offense, Polk aided the victorious cause with 14 points that came on 7-for-10 shooting. Thomas finished with 13 points and a team high eight rebounds, while Beard, the fourth American to score in double digits, added 12 points.
The United States finished shooting 49.2 percent for the game, and made just 4-of-12 from 3-point. Brazil shot slightly better in the second half then the first, but still was limited to a dooming 30.2 percent from the floor. The USA also won the battle on the glass, outrebounding Brazil 34-28. The U.S. made just 13 turnovers. Brazil’s leading scorer and former WNBA player Erika de Souza, who was named to the All-Tournament Team and was averaging 14.1 points a game through Brazil’s first seven games, was held scoreless shooting 0-for-6 on the night.
Foster was assisted by collegiate head coaches Kathy Delaney-Smith of Harvard University (Mass.) and Felisha Legette-Jack of Hofstra University (N.Y.).
In Sunday’s other finals play, Australia (6-2) ran past Russia (4-4) 74-59 to take fifth place, while China (3-5) out lasted Latvia (5-3) 85-77 to stake a claim on seventh place.
USA Young Women Defend France, Collect 58-47 Semifinal Victory
USA Basketball World Championship For Young Women Quotes
JIM FOSTER, USA and Ohio State University head coach
“It’s hard to explain what this thing is sometimes. It’s a month of preparations and I’ve done it often enough to know that if you have a quality group, you have a chance to get a gold medal. They had great character.”
Kathy Delaney-Smith, USA assistant coach and Harvard University head coach
On winning the gold:
“This is absolutely, positively exhilarating. You think about giving up the month of July and prior to the gold medal you’re with a group of wonderful people who got better and better every time they got on the court. But to culminate all that in a gold medal is one of my all-time highs.”
On the team’s play in the gold medal game:
“What is so outstanding about this team is that it was composed of all unselfish players. If you look at our road to get to the gold medal game, it was someone different doing something for us almost every game. Today in the gold medal game when Brazil made tremendous runs at us, we had enough poise and enough heart to maintain and go on to win the gold. I was very proud of this fairly young team relative to international play, so I was very proud of what they did.”
Felisha Legette-Jack, USA assistant coach and Hofstra University head coach
On winning the gold:
“It is an amazing feeling and a sense of accomplishment. Being a young coach in this profession, I think this is one of the biggest things I’ve ever been a part of. I’m excited to be with coach Foster and coach Delaney-Smith, they have shown me so many different aspects of the game and their wisdom alone has made me a better coach. I’m excited about going home now because of the experience.”
On the team’s play in the gold medal game:
“Everyone just really stepped up. Even if one of our players missed a shot, there was always somebody there, you always felt the sense of team. There was no individual thought process, there was never a situation where you felt you were alone. The way they pulled together in the final game. I think coach Foster did a tremendous job getting everyone out of their own individual thoughts and into the team, which was so apparent during this final game.”
Seimone Augustus, LSU
On winning the gold:
“It means a lot for us to win this gold medal. It means we came out and represented our country with pride, we did the United Stated justice.”
On earning MVP honors:
“It’s very exciting for me, just the way it’s happened. I’ve never won anything worldwide, so It’s a very big accomplishment for me. With some of the elite players in our country, for us to come out here and win a war like this is just great.”
On her play in the gold medal game:
“I just wanted to come out and play hard in the gold medal game. Alana (Beard), Cappie (Pondexter) and all those players pushed me to do my best in this game, so I just wanted to come out and work hard. It was our last game so why not give it your all.”
Temeka Johnson, LSU
On winning the gold:
“I’m not sure it’s kicked in yet. To stand on a podium and to listen to your national anthem is an undescribable feeling. We found out we take a lot of things for granted and then for our national anthem to be played in another country is just awesome.”
On what the gold means to her:
“For me, it was definitely an honor. I couldn’t have asked to be a part of a bigger occasion than this one, especially with the group of players we have. It was a blessing for me because I was originally an alternate, so I was definitely grateful to come and represent my country.”
Alana Beard, Duke University
On winning the gold:
“It was an awesome experience. Anytime you are playing for your country you’re always going to be proud. Of course knowing you won a national championship you’re proud, but it’s a totally different feeling when you are competing for your country.”
On earning All-Tournament Team honors:
“It’s a great honor but I couldn’t have gotten it without my teammates. It was a total team effort in everything that we did.”
Kristen Mann, University of California at Santa Barbara
On winning the gold:
“It was one of the best feelings I have ever experienced. Just being with this team for a month, we all click together, which is pretty astonishing. It’s pretty hard for all the elite players in the country to bond and get along. This entire experience has been amazing and it was awesome to celebrate our victory tonight. It was the best feeling ever, by far.”
On coming back from her training camp injury:
“That was a little frustrating. It happened the second day of practice so I was extremely frustrated but I kept my spirits high and I got a lot of encouragement from my teammates and coaches back at home and the group here. I was super excited to get back on the floor one I got cleared to play. I didn’t play much in Boston because I was still a little hurt, but when we got out here, I got playing time. It was fun to get back on the court.”
Caity Matter, Ohio State University
On winning the gold:
“It’s just an awesome feeling. When we got together, this was our main goal, and it feels really good to accomplish the goal that you set for yourself. “
On the team’s play in the gold medal game:
“It was a really physical game and they made some runs at us but I thought we did a good job of weathering their runs and playing together as a team.”
Nicole Ohlde, Kansas State University
On winning the gold:
“It just feels incredible. It’s such an exciting feeling to know that you represented your country and were able to come away with a gold medal.”
On the team’s play in the gold medal game:
“I thought we came out and played really hard. We knew Brazil was going to be a tough matchup so everyone came out and competed well. Everyone filled the roles they needed to fill and it was a total team effort. Everyone stepped up and did good things at the right time.”
Shawntinice Polk, University of Arizona
On winning the gold:
“It’s feels awesome, it’s one of the best feelings in the world. Just to come together in the little time we had and to accomplish so much. I thank God that I got to be on the team, and to win the gold medal is just a bonus. It’s just overwhelming right now.”
On her play in the gold medal game:
“The team really picked me up. I wasn’t playing well earlier but they told me to keep fighting and go hard. The people around me make me better, it wasn’t anything I did. I really thank them for that and I’m just really happy.”
Cappie Pondexter, Rutgers University
On winning the gold:
“It’s surreal, you really can’t explain the feeling to win the gold medal. It’s been many of our last times playing for the USA and there is no better way go out than to win a gold medal. I’m very privileged to honor USA Basketball as always.”
On how this medal compares to her other USA gold medals:
“This is a world championship, the other one was qualifying for the World Championship. Two years ago, we weren’t able to accomplish this, and now playing with such great players and great teammates, it was so fun being around them. We worked so hard for a whole month and to get the gold and accomplish this is an amazing thing.”
Christi Thomas, University of Georgia
On winning the gold:
“It’s one of the best things in the world. Not many people can say they’ve played for a gold medal and represented their country. It’s an honor and a privilege.
On earning all-tournament team honors:
“I give that to my teammates because without them the team doesn’t function. Everyone just had the purpose of coming out and playing hard, so that’s what I did. When my teammates needed me, I stepped up.”
Kendra Wecker, Kansas State University
On winning the gold:
“Unbelievable. I think being with a different group of people other than our college teams and getting to know everybody through this past month and working so hard in this short period of time to accomplish this goal is incredible. And to say you’re a world champion in something is pretty special.”
On the team’s play in the gold medal game:
“It was great. I thought our starters came in and set the tempo early and clicked well. The people came off the bench and played hard and had great minutes. It definitely was a team effort like is has been during this entire tournament. Everyone just played really well and stepped up at big times when we needed them.”
Lindsay Whalen, University of Minnesota
On winning the gold medal:
“It’s just great. A month’s worth of practice and all working hard and getting on each other just came together at the right time.”
On the team’s play in the gold medal game:
“We played great defense the whole time and had big players step up in big parts of the game and knocked down some big shots for us. That’s what won it.”
Tanisha Wright, Pennsylvania State University
On winning the gold:
“It’s something very special. Coach Foster has been telling us the whole time we were here that it’s a big comparison to the NCAA championship. To come out here and be world champions is a great accomplishment and a great feeling.”
On the team’s play in the gold medal game:
“We were pretty much consistent as far as defensively throughout and a lot of people picked up the slack offensively when we needed them to. Not one person did it by themselves, it was a whole team effort, a whole team win. It was a good run for us.”
U.S. Advances To Gold Medal Game Against Brazil
Aug. 2, 2003
SIBENIK, Croatia — Shawntinice Polk (Arizona / Hanford, Calif.) contributed a game high 15 points, 11 coming in a 5:27 span to start the second quarter, as the USA Young Women’s National Team (6-1) advanced to the gold medal game of the 2003 FIBA World Championship For Young Women after defeating France (5-2) 58-47 Saturday evening in Sibenik, Croatia.
The United States will meet Brazil (6-1) in Sunday night’s gold medal game (3:00 p.m. EDT). Brazil edged host Croatia (3-4) 73-65, setting up a Croatia-France bronze medal game. The USA’s lone loss at the World Championship For Young Women was to Brazil, 73-60, on July 27.
“We knew from the outset that it was going to be physical game,” said USA and Ohio State University head coach Jim Foster. “It was sort of a test of will and we had a lot of people do some good things for us. The end result is that we had enough good things done to win it. Polkey (Shawntinice Polk) did a great job in the lane, she had great hands, rebounded the ball and in the second half she did a much better job defensively. I thought that (Kendra) Wecker (Kansas State / Clay Center, Kan.) came in and really gave us a boost. She got a lot of loose balls and played with a lot of energy. Tanisha Wright (Penn State / West Mifflin, Pa.) did some good things. The good thing about this team from the beginning is that we haven’t had to depend on one individual. It’s been a collective effort and it seems to be different people stepping up every night.”
The first half was all about spurts. After a France jumper at 9:22, the United States took off on a 12-0 run behind six points from Alana Beard (Duke / Shreveport, La.), who had a hand in another basket after dishing off to Polk at 5:34 to end the run. After both teams scored another two points, France scored the game’s next eight points and the first quarter ended with the USA up 14-12.
Polk put on an offensive clinic to start the second quarter, accounting for all of the USA’s points in an 11-2 run and at 4:33 the U.S. held a 25-14 upper hand. It was France’s turn next as the USA’s shooting went cold and the French took off on a 15-0 tear that ended with 35 seconds remaining in the half. Lindsay Whalen (Minnesota / Hutchinson, Minn.) scored a driving layup with four seconds to go and the U.S. found itself trailing 29-27 at halftime.
“It wasn’t really the Polkey show, it was the USA show,” remarked Polk. “The team really got me pumped up today. It’s getting close to the gold medal game and this is the game we needed to win to get into the gold medal game. Everybody really wanted it bad. We got it into our heads that we were going to win this game, play tough. We knew how physical France was and we knew that if we went out as a team then good things will happen. Our defense made our offense tonight.”
Allowing just two French field goals in the third quarter, the USA’s defense spurred its offense and at the end of 30 minutes of play the U.S. held a 45-34 advantage. During the third quarter 18-5 surge Seimone Augustus (Louisiana State / Baton Rouge, La.) and Cappie Pondexter (Rutgers / Chicago, Ill.) accounted for eight and six points, respectively.
After a Polk put back, France cut the lead to six, 47-41, with 6:19 remaining in the game. With 4:48 left on the clock, Pondexter was sent to the line and swooshed both tries. After a Wecker steal, Pondexter found Augustus inside and with 4:16 to play the USA was back in front by 10, 51-41. But France responded with a 3-pointer at 3:22 to close to 51-44. After misses on both ends of the court, Pondexter nailed a three as time expired on the shot clock and the USA’s lead was again 10 points. France, which had been playing tight defensively all game, stepped up its defensive intensity, while attempting a barrage of 3-pointers, but the USA’s defense also picked up and allowed just one more French three as the United States earned the hard-fought victory.
In addition to Polk’s 15-point effort, she also grabbed a team high seven rebounds. Pondexter scored 14 and Augustus added 10 points, while Wecker was credited for four steals.
In a tough defensive battle on both ends of the court, the U.S. shot 35.4 percent (23-65 FGs) from the field, its lowest of the tournament. However, France was limited to 28.6 percent (18-63 FGs) on the night, including just 18.2 percent from 3-point (6-33 3pt FGs). The USA also won the battle of the boards, 39-29, and forced 15 turnovers.
Foster is being assisted by collegiate head coaches Kathy Delaney-Smith of Harvard University (Mass.) and Felisha Legette-Jack of Hofstra University (N.Y.).
In consolation play, the Czech Republic (3-4) finished in ninth place after defeating Argentina (2-5) 75-53, while South Korea (1-6) bested Tunisia (0-7) 63-47 for 11th place. Australia (5-2) downed China (2-5) 73-68 to advance to the 5th-6th place game against Russia (4-3), which was victorious over Latvia (5-2) 68-60. China and Latvia will play in the 7th-8th place game.
Additional Quotes
USA head coach Jim Foster on playing Brazil in the gold medal game:
“Brazil is as big and physical a team as I’ve seen in years. The big kid (Erika de Sousa) played in the WNBA, she’s a mature woman and has great hands. They’re very athletic, a fundamentally sound basketball team.
“Croatia, it seems as though host countries play with an incredible amount of pride and they’re no exception to that rule. They might be playing over their heads, because they’re home they are playing up at another level.”
Seimone Augustus (Louisiana State University) on advancing to the gold medal game:
“It feels great, knowing that we’ve come this far. Adjusting to our mistakes after the loss and then to come out tonight and beat a good French team by double digits feels real good.”
On the defensive lapses in the first half:
“I think we weren’t communicating enough defensively, offensively we weren’t executing well. We were getting to our spots, getting to where we needed to go, but we weren’t really getting good shots.”
Cappie Pondexter (Rutgers University) on if this feel better than it did two years ago when you lost the 2001 Junior World Championship semifinal game?
“Yes! We have the chance to win the gold. I told everybody at halftime that the game’s not over, that we could easily win. I feel good about us winning, I really wanted it. Two years ago we didn’t get a chance to win the gold medal, but now we have that chance. We came here for a World Championship and that’s what we want to do.”
Shawntinice Polk (University of Arizona) on tonight’s game:
“I think a lot of us stepped it up tonight. France was our first game after we got here, we hadn’t seen them yet and we didn’t ever really get in our rhythm and as things went on, we got better and better. To win this game, to make it to the gold medal game, everyone stepped it up.”
How does it feel to be in the gold medal game?
“It’s great. We want to go out and get a win tomorrow, that’s all we’re thinking about right now.”
Kendra Wecker (Kansas State University) on how it feels to be playing for the gold medal?
“It feels great. We’ve only been together for a month and to come out and accomplish this, to get into the gold medal game, is awesome. We’ve been taking it game by game and this is what we came here for – to play in the championship game.”
Tanisha Wright (Penn State University) on being in the gold medal game:
“Coach Foster has been comparing this to being in the national championship, but better. If that’s the way the international world sees it, it gives me a good feeling to be here, being in the gold medal game.”
On tonight’s game:
“It was a fun game. It was a fun game to be in, a fun game to cheer for. All around, with them coming back and then us coming back, them coming back again and then us coming back and trying to hang onto the lead. It was just a real fun to be in and win.”
On Shawntinice Polk’s game:
“Oh she was great. She was getting aggressive, taking it straight to them and getting some easy buckets. She did great.”
SIBENIK, Croatia — Behind a balanced scoring attack that saw four players score in double digits, the USA Young Women’s National Team (5-1) advanced to the medal semifinals of the 2003 FIBA World Championship Young Women after defeating Australia (4-2) 80-56 on Friday afternoon in Sibenik, Croatia. Georgia’s Christi Thomas checked in for a team high 13 points and seven rebounds, while LSU’s Seimone Augustus contributed 11 points.
The USA will face France (5-1), 76-57 winners over China in their quarterfinal game, on Saturday at 6:45 p.m. (12:45 p.m. EDT) for the right to advance to the gold medal contest. Both teams met on the first day of competition and the U.S. earned a 56-48 victory. In other pending quarterfinals action, Brazil (4-1) and Russia (3-2) face off at 6:45 p.m. and the 9:00 p.m. contest will feature Latvia (5-0) against host Croatia (2-3).
“We’ve been talking about what we want to get done here, talking about our depth and level of play,” said USA and Ohio State University head coach Jim Foster. “Today some people on the bench really, really played well. Seimone (Augustus) is a starter, but she’s been playing progressively better as this tournament has gone on. Tanisha Wright (Penn State / West Mifflin, Pa.) came off the bench and did some very solid things for us from a defensive point of view. Lindsay Whalen (Minnesota / Hutchinson, Minn.) came in and helped us maintain our tempo. Cappie Pondexter (Rutgers / Chicago, Ill.) probably played her best game of this tournament today. Some of our starters didn’t have a great day, but our bench … Christi Thomas was also terrific off the bench. Our depth really paid off.”
Opening the do-or-die contest with the winner advancing to the medal semifinals and the loser playing for no better than fifth place, the U.S. stormed out to a 24-8 upper hand to start the game. At the outset neither team was able to convert a basket and it took an Augustus layup at 7:47 to get the game’s first points on the scoreboard. Augustus’ bucket sparked an 8-2 U.S. run which ended with 4:36 on the clock. By the 2:56 mark the Americans still held a six-point lead, 12-6 Then, fueled by a stingy defense which allowed only one Australian bucket with two seconds to go in the quarter, the USA scored 12 consecutive points, including five points from Whalen, to close out the quarter ahead 24-8.
“We had to come out intense and ready to play because we played the Australians twice (in Boston) already,” said Thomas, who had nine points by halftime. “We were kind of familiar with them and we needed to come out and play USA ball. It’s really hard to keep up the intensity after taking a lead like we did, you really have to keep your focus because Australia’s a team that never gives up. We knew that going into this today. We had to keep our focus and keep pushing and extending our lead.”
The Australians managed to outscore the U.S. 20-18 in the second quarter, thanks in large part to four straight threes from Michele Musselwhite, and as the halftime buzzer sounded the United States was in the lead 42-28. During the first half the Aussies shot an uncharacteristic 29.0 percent (9-31 FGs) from the field, while the U.S. scorched the nets for 56.7 percent (17-30 FGs), including 71.4 percent (5-7 3pt FGs) from 3-point. Further, all 10 of Australia’s turnovers came from U.S. steals, while the USA turned the ball over just five times.
By the 7:27 mark in the third quarter the USA’s lead was 21 points, 49-28, punctuated by five points from Augustus. The Aussies outscored the United States 12-4 over the next 5:10 and at the 2:17 mark the USA’s lead had dwindled to 53-43. However, the USA finished the quarter strong partially due to Wright, who added four points coming on a pair of free throws and a steal, and at the end of three the USA was ahead 59-43. With 8:34 remaining in the game the U.S. had reclaimed a 20-point margin, 65-45, and settled in for the eventual semifinal berth and 80-56 victory.
In addition to Augustus and Thomas, Pondexter scored 10 points on perfect 5-of-5 shooting from the floor, and Whalen also notched 10.
The U.S. finished shooting 50.0 percent (30-60 FGs) from the field and limited Australia to 28.8 percent (19-66 FGs) overall. Edging the Aussies on the glass 32-29, the United States forced 17 Australian turnovers. Additionally, the USA’s defense held Australia’s third leading scorer (9.5 ppg. through five games) scoreless on the day.
Foster is being assisted by collegiate head coaches Kathy Delaney-Smith of Harvard University (Mass.) and Felisha Legette-Jack of Hofstra University (N.Y.).
In consolation play, Argentina (2-4) beat South Korea (0-6) 67-58 and the Czech Republic (2-4) ran past Tunisia (0-6) 83-28.
Additional Quotes
JIM FOSTER, USA and Ohio State University head coach
On the team’s communication against Australia:
“Our communication has improved just about every time we’ve stepped out on the floor here. It’s really important because we played Australia twice before and they made adjustments relative to those two games. You don’t know what’s coming at you and if you’re not talking you’re in big trouble. But we really, really talked well and made great adjustments.
On going up against France in the semifinal contest:
“I think they’re a very good defensive team and much like Australia, a very physical team. They’re a tad bit more athletic than Australia, so we have to be able to deal with the physical aspects of the game. And hopefully cause some problems on their offensive end with our defenses, which I think we did the first time we played them. We have to maintain that and get better offensively.”
SEIMONE AUGUSTUS, LSU
On today’s game:
“It was a tough game, we knew Australia was going to get after us so we had to stay mentally focused throughout the game. I think we came out and we did great.”
On why the USA jumped out to such a big lead:
“I think it was our defense. Coach has been talking about defense during the past two practices, so we had a lot of different looks and I think it effected them.”
ALANA BEARD, Duke University
On the team’s communication against Australia:
“I thought that we broke down on defense during the last three games because we didn’t communicate. But today we communicated really well, our defense was tight and we knew who was cutting baseline. But besides communicating, we played really well and stayed intense.”
Australia has a very strong team, was it one of your goals to come out quick like that?
“That was definitely our goal. I told the team that we have to set the tone because they play really well when they’re up, but it’s tough for them sometimes to come back. We had to set the tone and we did, we came out with a lot of intensity on the defensive end, but we also attacked offensively.”
What did you think about Australia playing hard to the end, never giving up?
“They have heart. Any team is going to fight in a tournament like this, this is a World Championship. Australia is a brilliant team, they’re a great team and I wouldn’t want to play against them too many times.”
CAPPIE PONDEXTER, Rutgers University
On the team’s communication against Australia:
“I think it’s important, especially because if we want to win the gold medal we have to communicate. Sometimes it’s hard to hear coach so we need to know what we have to do and we have to keep communicating, checking in with each other. If we keep doing that, there’s no limit to what we can do.”
You’re playing France in the semifinals and two years ago at the 2001 FIBA Junior World Championships you lost in the semifinal. Talk about that:
“I’m taking the game personally anyway because the first game we played against France wasn’t one of my best games. I was very disappointed after that game so I have some things I want to get off of my chest. I talked with Alana (Beard, who was also on the 2001 USA Junior National Team) about it and we really want to do this. We have a good chance because we have a really good team. As long as we keep communicating we’ll be fine.”
CHRISTI THOMAS, University of Georgia
On playing France in the semifinals:
“They’re a physical team, it’s going to be tough from here on out. The last two games are going to be tough so we have to keep our composure and keep pushing.”
LINDSAY WHALEN, University of Minnesota
On today’s game:
“I think we learned from playing Brazil that’s it hard to beat a team three times and we didn’t want that to happen again. It was important to be focused the whole day, have a good shoot-around and everything. And then in the first quarter we came out and took care of business, set the tone from the get-go. Once we did that, they made a few runs at us, but in looking at overall consistancy, this was one of the better games we’ve played so far.”
How do you keep up your intensity level after going up 24-8 after the first quarter?
“The first time we played them (in Boston), we only beat them by four. We know they’re a good team, they were 4-1 coming out of pool play, and they’re a tough program. We knew they were going to be physical with us the whole game and we knew they would give us a run for forty minutes. They’re not going to quit. But this is the quarterfinals, it’s to go to the medal (semifinals), so you can’t lose your intensity at all, you have to keep it up throughout the whole game.”
(Courtesy of USABasketball.com)
SIBENIK, Croatia — After holding a four-point lead at halftime, and with the help of 14 points apiece from LSU’s Seimone Augustus and Kansas State’s Nicole Ohlde, the USA Young Women’s National Team (4-1) advanced to the medal quarterfinals round after defeating host Croatia (2-3), 83-58, on Wednesday night.
Through five games in the World Championships for Young Women, Augustus ranks third on the team with 46 points and a 9.2 scoring average. The LSU sophomore-to-be has started every game and ranks second on the team in field-goal shooting (62.9 percent, 22 of 35) and steals (15).
Her LSU and championship teammate, point guard Temeka Johnson, has scored nine points with five assists and four steals in 11.2 minutes per game.
“We wanted to come out and play intense and get ready for the medal round games,” said Augustus. “And what better way to do that than against the home team with a home town crowd. At halftime coach Foster said that we needed to pick it up, we were letting them stay around, they were hanging with us when they shouldn’t have been. We needed to focus on getting ready for the medal round games and the second half prepared us for that.”
The USA, which finished tied with Brazil and France after posting identical 4-1 records, finished in third place in Group A as a result of FIBA’s tie-breaking formula (point differential between tied teams). France finished as the top team in Group A, Brazil finished second, the USA third and Croatia fourth. All four teams will advance to the medal quarterfinals round, while the Czech Republic (1-4) and South Korea (0-5) will play for 9-12 place. The USA will face Australia (4-1), second place finishers in Group B, on Friday, August 1 at 2:15 p.m. (8:15 a.m. EDT) for the right to advance to the medal semifinals.
“We weren’t moving our feet, we were making decisions based on U.S. basketball. In the States we penetrate to get to the basket, in Europe a lot of times people penetrate to draw the defense and kick back to the three-point shooter. In the first half we were overreacting to the ball, allowing them to them to kick back to their three-point shooters. In the second half I told them to be more accountable to the ball, keep the ball in front of them. We obviously did a better job of that in the second half.
“Australia plays as hard as anybody here,” added Foster on the USA’s next opponent. “They have a lot of pride in who they are and I think that’s a good team for us to have to play against.”
After jumping out to an 11-0 lead to start the game, it seemed as if the USA might run away with it from the beginning. However, Croatia came back on a 7-2 run and with 2:53 remaining in the quarter trailed 13-7. The U.S. scored the game’s next seven points, earning a 20-7 advantage at 1:24. But Croatia would not go away quietly and closed out the quarter on a 7-0 spurt to pull within six, 20-14, after 10 minutes of play.
With 5:47 to go before the half the score was still separated by six points, 30-24, before the USA upped its lead to 35-24 with 4:44 to go. Again Croatia fought back and with 2:28 left in the half closed to 35-32. By halftime, all that separated the USA and Croatia were four points, 40-36.
The game opened up in the third quarter as the Americans went on a 22-7 tear and at the end of three periods the game was safely in hand, 62-41. Croatia managed to cut it to two, 43-41, in less than a minute of play, but the USA fired off 12 straight points to gain a 55-41 advantage at 4:03. Shawntinice Polk (Arizona / Hanford, Calif.) kicked off the run with two straight buckets, followed by another four points from Augustus. On Croatia’s next trip down the court Augustus came away with a steal, which resulted in a Cappie Pondexter (Rutgers / Chicago, Ill.) layup. The run ended on a Alana Beard (Duke / Shreveport, La.) steal and jumper and with 4:03 to go in the quarter the USA was in front 55-41. By the end of the third quarter the game was well in hand, 62-43. The USA outscored Croatia 21-15 in the fourth quarter and registered its fourth win.
“We expected them to play like that,” said Ohlde. “Because throughout the tournament Croatia’s been getting some wins, hanging in tough and they were in front of their home crowd. So we expected them to come out and play us aggressively, which was what happened in the first half. We came out in the second half aggressively, getting into our spots and doing the things necessary to get a win, doing the things we’re capable of doing.”
In addition to their 14 points, Augustus collected a game high seven steals and Ohlde grabbed a game high eight rebounds.
The USA dominated in every aspect of the game. The squad outrebounded Croatia 37-16, was credited for 19 steals and shot 42.9 percent (33-77 FGs) from the field, while limiting Croatia to 36.5 percent (19-52 FGs).
Foster is being assisted by collegiate head coaches Kathy Delaney-Smith of Harvard University (Mass.) and Felisha Legette-Jack of Hofstra University (N.Y.).
In the other preliminary round Group A play, Brazil (4-1) defeated the Czech Republic (1-4) 87-59, while France (4-1) downed South Korea (0-5) 68-43. Closing out Group B undefeated was Latvia (5-0) with an 81-79 close call over China (2-3), Australia (4-1) trounced Tunisia (0-5) 70-32 and Russia (3-2) edged Argentina (1-4) 63-60.