UDINE, Italy (July 22, 2017) – Texas A&M incoming freshman Chennedy Carter (Mansfield, Texas) scored 14 points and dished out four assists, helping the 2017 USA Women's U19 World Cup Team (1-0) open FIBA U19 World Cup play in strong fashion by running away with a 95-58 victory over Mali (0-1) on Saturday evening in Udine, Italy.
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Alecia Sutton (Texas/St. Louis, Mo.) led the way with a game-best 19 points, Megan Walker (Connecticut/Chesterfield, Va.) came off the bench to score 15 points and Crystal Dangerfield (Connecticut/Murfreesboro, Tenn.) chipped in 10 points. Joyner Holmes (Texas/Cedar Hill, Texas) checked in for a near double-double with nine points and a game-high 10 caroms.
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Next up for the USA is a July 23 contest against China (1-0) and the Americans close preliminary play July 25 against host Italy (0-1).
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"It's a great start to the tournament," said USA U19 and University of Pittsburgh head coach Suzie McConnell-Serio. "We got contributions from each and every player. There was a lot of energy defensively. Our players stayed in plays and challenged shots. We did a great job on the boards. Offensively, being able to put 95 points on the board was a great sign for this team and a great start to this tournament. This is something that we believed this team is capable of doing, so it was great to see them do it today"
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Mali put up the game's first points and led for 12 seconds before the USA scored the next six points to take the lead for good. Leading 8-7, the U.S. put together an 11-2 run and with 2:12 remaining in the first quarter, owned a 10-point, 19-9 advantage and when the quarter ended, the USA's cushion was 23-14.
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The African squad opened the second quarter with a 7-0 spurt, its biggest run of the game, to edge within two points, 23-21, with 8:31 remaining in the first half. That's when Sutton picked up her first buckets of the game with a jumper, followed by a 3-pointer at 7:00. That sparked a 15-2 USA run, which was bookended by another five points from Sutton, and left the American women on top 38-23. After a 6-point spurt by Mali, the red, white and blue again went to work and closed the half on a 10-3 run and headed to the locker room up 48-32.
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Coming out of the break both teams swapped scores and with 6:44 left in the third period, the USA's lead was 17 points, 55-38. However, spurred by the scoring from five different athletes, the USA outscored Mali 18-3 over the ensuing five minutes to put the game out of reach, 73-41.
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At the end of the third quarter the score was 75-45 and the USA outscored Mali 20-13 in the fourth quarter to bring the score to its final.
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The USA, which dished out 23 assists, shot 43.4 percent (36-83 FGs) from the floor and a red-hot 34.8 percent (8-23 3pt FGs), while limiting Mali to 35.4 percent (23-65 FGs) from the field. The U.S. won the battle on the glass 58-35, including a 22-8 advantage on the offensive boards, which resulted in 20 second-chance points for the red, white and blue. Additionally, the USA outscored Mali 16-4 in transition and 40-20 from bench players.
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Alecia Sutton (Texas/St. Louis, Mo.) led the way with a game-best 19 points, Megan Walker (Connecticut/Chesterfield, Va.) came off the bench to score 15 points and Crystal Dangerfield (Connecticut/Murfreesboro, Tenn.) chipped in 10 points. Joyner Holmes (Texas/Cedar Hill, Texas) checked in for a near double-double with nine points and a game-high 10 caroms.
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Next up for the USA is a July 23 contest against China (1-0) and the Americans close preliminary play July 25 against host Italy (0-1).
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"It's a great start to the tournament," said USA U19 and University of Pittsburgh head coach Suzie McConnell-Serio. "We got contributions from each and every player. There was a lot of energy defensively. Our players stayed in plays and challenged shots. We did a great job on the boards. Offensively, being able to put 95 points on the board was a great sign for this team and a great start to this tournament. This is something that we believed this team is capable of doing, so it was great to see them do it today"
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Mali put up the game's first points and led for 12 seconds before the USA scored the next six points to take the lead for good. Leading 8-7, the U.S. put together an 11-2 run and with 2:12 remaining in the first quarter, owned a 10-point, 19-9 advantage and when the quarter ended, the USA's cushion was 23-14.
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The African squad opened the second quarter with a 7-0 spurt, its biggest run of the game, to edge within two points, 23-21, with 8:31 remaining in the first half. That's when Sutton picked up her first buckets of the game with a jumper, followed by a 3-pointer at 7:00. That sparked a 15-2 USA run, which was bookended by another five points from Sutton, and left the American women on top 38-23. After a 6-point spurt by Mali, the red, white and blue again went to work and closed the half on a 10-3 run and headed to the locker room up 48-32.
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Coming out of the break both teams swapped scores and with 6:44 left in the third period, the USA's lead was 17 points, 55-38. However, spurred by the scoring from five different athletes, the USA outscored Mali 18-3 over the ensuing five minutes to put the game out of reach, 73-41.
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At the end of the third quarter the score was 75-45 and the USA outscored Mali 20-13 in the fourth quarter to bring the score to its final.
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The USA, which dished out 23 assists, shot 43.4 percent (36-83 FGs) from the floor and a red-hot 34.8 percent (8-23 3pt FGs), while limiting Mali to 35.4 percent (23-65 FGs) from the field. The U.S. won the battle on the glass 58-35, including a 22-8 advantage on the offensive boards, which resulted in 20 second-chance points for the red, white and blue. Additionally, the USA outscored Mali 16-4 in transition and 40-20 from bench players.