CIVIDALE DEL FRIULI, Italy (July 23, 2017) – Texas A&M incoming freshman Chennedy Carter (Mansfield, Texas) scored 13 points, helping the 2017 USA Women's U19 World Cup Team (2-0) explode for a 48-15 halftime lead and cruise in for a 91-51 victory at the FIBA U19 World Cup on Sunday evening in Cividale del Friuli, Italy.
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Joyner Holmes (Texas/Cedar Hill, Texas) was the team's leading scorer, contributing 14 points and nine rebounds, as every member of the team put up points, including five in double digits. Crystal Dangerfield (Connecticut/Murfreesboro, Tenn.) and Ruthy Hebard (Oregon/Fairbanks, Alaska) pitched in 11 points apiece, Hebard also grabbed nine caroms and Dangerfield passed out a game-best four assists; while Bella Alarie (Princeton/Bethesda, Md.) chipped in 10 points and had eight boards.
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"We just started off with composure, we stayed composed," said Carter. "We moved the ball a lot and swung it in our offense. We played as a team and we were successful. We got out to that great start and got a good lead in the beginning."
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The American women close preliminary play July 25 against host Italy (0-1), which plays Mali (0-1) in tonight's late game.
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"Defensively, we tried to stay in place, limit penetration and really focus on defending their offense," said USA U19 and University of Pittsburgh head coach Suzie McConnell-Serio. "Our players came out with a focus and energy defensively, and we were really impressed with the way we defended dribble penetration, contesting shots. The first half, we limited them to 15 points. I think our defense created a lot of opportunities in transition and other scoring opportunities. Great first half coming out with a lot of energy."
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Dangerfield hit a jumper at 9:21 for the first points of the game and the USA never relinquished its lead. Carter drove to the lane for another two points before China got on the scoreboard with a free throw at 7:57. A 7-0 run by the U.S. was halted by China's first field goal of the game - one of just three allowed by the stingy U.S. defense in the first half. The USA continued to fluster China on the defensive end, while running out to a 28-10 advantage at the first quarter buzzer with eight players adding points in the first 10 minutes of play, which ended with a Megan Walker (Connecticut/Chesterfield, Va.) buzzer-beating put-back.
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"We just started off with composure, we stayed composed," said Carter. "We moved the ball a lot and swung it in our offense. We played as a team and we were successful. We got out to that great start and got a good lead in the beginning."
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The second quarter was more of the same as the USA strung together a pair of 8-0 runs while outscoring China 20-5 to take a commanding 48-15 halftime lead. By the midway buzzer, the USA had stymied China, which shot 46.4 percent (26-56 FGs) from the floor and 30.8 percent (8-26 3pt FGs) against Italy Saturday night, into a frigid 4-of-24 from the field and 1-of-10 from beyond the arc. Further, the USA scored 16 points on China's 12 turnovers and had 10 points in transition.
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Easing up in the second half, the USA outscored 25-23 in the third quarter and 18-13 in the fourth quarter. Its largest lead of the night was 44 points (86-42) with 3:25 to play in the game.
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"China was a fast team, they played fast-paced," said Holmes. "They looked to get the ball up in transition. They did a lot of backdoor cuts, especially in that second half. I think we just had to play solid on defense and be disciplined on defense in order to pull out this win tonight."
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The American women finished the night shooting 40.8 percent (31-76 FGs) from the floor and 25.0 percent (5-20 3pt FGs) from 3-point, while holding China to an icy 29.5 percent (18-61 FGs) shooting overall and 17.4 percent (4-23 3pt FGs) from afar.
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Despite averaging an inch shorter than the Chinese, the USA won the battle on the boards 57-37, capitalized for 31 points off China's 20 turnovers and outscored China 48-22 in the paint and 43-19 off the bench.
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The USA post players held China's 6-foot-8 center Xu Han, who scored 13 against Italy, to just three points.
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"We tried to focus on their penetration," said Dangerfield on the team's game plan. "We knew they had a big girl, and we wanted to be able to shut her down early.
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"They were really physical," added Dangerfield on her team's post players. "I was really happy to see that. Moving forward, that is going to be huge."
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Chennedy Carter
How were you able to start off strong and put the game away early?
We just started off with composure, we stayed composed. We moved the ball a lot and swung it in our offense. We played as a team and we were successful. We got out to that great start and got a good lead in the beginning.
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How was today's game indicative of this team's depth?
Today showed we have a lot of depth on our bench. It's not just one player, two players or three players, we can go deep into our bench and everybody could start or produce for us in any way that we need them to.
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What's the early thought on Italy having played them in an exhibition already?
Coach told us they have a good point guard and a great post player that can finish around the rim. We have to play defense and really, just keep doing what we are doing, and hopefully, we can win again and keep this streak going.
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Joyner Holmes (Texas/Cedar Hill, Texas) was the team's leading scorer, contributing 14 points and nine rebounds, as every member of the team put up points, including five in double digits. Crystal Dangerfield (Connecticut/Murfreesboro, Tenn.) and Ruthy Hebard (Oregon/Fairbanks, Alaska) pitched in 11 points apiece, Hebard also grabbed nine caroms and Dangerfield passed out a game-best four assists; while Bella Alarie (Princeton/Bethesda, Md.) chipped in 10 points and had eight boards.
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"We just started off with composure, we stayed composed," said Carter. "We moved the ball a lot and swung it in our offense. We played as a team and we were successful. We got out to that great start and got a good lead in the beginning."
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The American women close preliminary play July 25 against host Italy (0-1), which plays Mali (0-1) in tonight's late game.
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"Defensively, we tried to stay in place, limit penetration and really focus on defending their offense," said USA U19 and University of Pittsburgh head coach Suzie McConnell-Serio. "Our players came out with a focus and energy defensively, and we were really impressed with the way we defended dribble penetration, contesting shots. The first half, we limited them to 15 points. I think our defense created a lot of opportunities in transition and other scoring opportunities. Great first half coming out with a lot of energy."
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Dangerfield hit a jumper at 9:21 for the first points of the game and the USA never relinquished its lead. Carter drove to the lane for another two points before China got on the scoreboard with a free throw at 7:57. A 7-0 run by the U.S. was halted by China's first field goal of the game - one of just three allowed by the stingy U.S. defense in the first half. The USA continued to fluster China on the defensive end, while running out to a 28-10 advantage at the first quarter buzzer with eight players adding points in the first 10 minutes of play, which ended with a Megan Walker (Connecticut/Chesterfield, Va.) buzzer-beating put-back.
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"We just started off with composure, we stayed composed," said Carter. "We moved the ball a lot and swung it in our offense. We played as a team and we were successful. We got out to that great start and got a good lead in the beginning."
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The second quarter was more of the same as the USA strung together a pair of 8-0 runs while outscoring China 20-5 to take a commanding 48-15 halftime lead. By the midway buzzer, the USA had stymied China, which shot 46.4 percent (26-56 FGs) from the floor and 30.8 percent (8-26 3pt FGs) against Italy Saturday night, into a frigid 4-of-24 from the field and 1-of-10 from beyond the arc. Further, the USA scored 16 points on China's 12 turnovers and had 10 points in transition.
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Easing up in the second half, the USA outscored 25-23 in the third quarter and 18-13 in the fourth quarter. Its largest lead of the night was 44 points (86-42) with 3:25 to play in the game.
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"China was a fast team, they played fast-paced," said Holmes. "They looked to get the ball up in transition. They did a lot of backdoor cuts, especially in that second half. I think we just had to play solid on defense and be disciplined on defense in order to pull out this win tonight."
Â
The American women finished the night shooting 40.8 percent (31-76 FGs) from the floor and 25.0 percent (5-20 3pt FGs) from 3-point, while holding China to an icy 29.5 percent (18-61 FGs) shooting overall and 17.4 percent (4-23 3pt FGs) from afar.
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Despite averaging an inch shorter than the Chinese, the USA won the battle on the boards 57-37, capitalized for 31 points off China's 20 turnovers and outscored China 48-22 in the paint and 43-19 off the bench.
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The USA post players held China's 6-foot-8 center Xu Han, who scored 13 against Italy, to just three points.
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"We tried to focus on their penetration," said Dangerfield on the team's game plan. "We knew they had a big girl, and we wanted to be able to shut her down early.
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"They were really physical," added Dangerfield on her team's post players. "I was really happy to see that. Moving forward, that is going to be huge."
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Postgame QuotesÂ
Chennedy Carter
How were you able to start off strong and put the game away early?
We just started off with composure, we stayed composed. We moved the ball a lot and swung it in our offense. We played as a team and we were successful. We got out to that great start and got a good lead in the beginning.
Â
How was today's game indicative of this team's depth?
Today showed we have a lot of depth on our bench. It's not just one player, two players or three players, we can go deep into our bench and everybody could start or produce for us in any way that we need them to.
Â
What's the early thought on Italy having played them in an exhibition already?
Coach told us they have a good point guard and a great post player that can finish around the rim. We have to play defense and really, just keep doing what we are doing, and hopefully, we can win again and keep this streak going.