UDINE, Italy (July 29, 2017) – Texas A&M incoming freshman Chennedy Carter (Mansfield, Texas) had 19 points, helping the 2017 USA Women's U19 World Cup Team (6-0) clinch a 73-66 victory over Japan (5-1) in the FIBA U19 World Cup semifinals on Saturday night in Udine, Italy. A 33-6 run that spanned the second and third quarters win moved the USA into the gold medal game, where it will face Russia (6-0) in a rematch of the 2015 gold medal game, on July 30 (3 p.m. EDT) in an effort to claim a seventh-consecutive gold medal at the event.
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Led by Ruthy Hebard's (Oregon/Fairbanks, Alaska) monster double-double of 24 points on 11-of-15 shooting from the field and 14 rebounds, the USA's offensive attack was bolstered by Carter, Megan Walker (Connecticut/Chesterfield, Va.) added 11 points and Tyasha Harris (South Carolina/Noblesville, Ind.) chipped in 10 points and dished out a team-high six assists.
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"They were a little smaller, so I definitely tried to use that to my advantage and just go to work and go strong to the boards today," said Hebard, who is averaging 12.2 points and 8.5 rebounds through six games.
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Russia defeated Canada (5-1) 65-41 earlier in the evening. Canada will go up against Japan for the bronze medal.
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The USA has earned a record seven gold medals and one bronze in 11 previous U19 World Cups. Russia has captured three silver medals while Canada and Japan have never medaled at the event.
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"For three quarters, our execution was great on both ends of the floor," said USA U19 and University of Pittsburgh head coach Suzie McConnell-Serio. "Defensively, we talked about staying home on shooters, not coming off contested drives and trying to stay in plays to challenge all shots and dominate the boards. But, this was a team that can pick you apart when you gamble and go for steals or don't box out - they will capitalize on those opportunities. We were solid for three quarters, and then we had a letup."
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The USA held a slim 24-22 lead after the first quarter, which saw the lead change sides seven times, and the score see-sawed in the early minutes of the second period.
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With the score knotted for the ninth time in the contest, this time at 30-all, Carter drove to the basket for the first two points in what would become a 17-3 run over the final 5:27 of the first half. Offensively, Walker scored seven points, including a first-half buzzer-beating 3-pointer, Carter had six and Hebard contributed four points. On the defensive end, the American women forced Japan into 1-of-8 shooting from the field and three turnovers.
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"They're definitely very fast on their feet," said Hebard. "They played really good defense. They bumped us inside, but I thought we had good ball movement tonight and we just shut them down."
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Storming out of the locker room, the USA got four points apiece from Hebard and Alecia Sutton (Texas/St. Louis, Mo.) before Japan swished in a 3 at 6:17. Another 8-0 spurt, fueled by field goals from four different players, put the USA in the lead 63-36 with 3:19 to play in the third period. Japan got hot and outscored the U.S. 7-2 to close to cut the deficit to 22 points, 65-43, at the end of the third quarter.
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"I feel like it was our energy off the bench," said Walker of the team's play through the first 30 minutes of play. "We focused on our defense, not sucking in to help and we were closing out to shooters."
Japan continued to be hot, headed into the fourth period, notching the first eight points in an eventual 14-4 scoring spree to narrow the gap to 11 points, 69-58, with 3:20 remaining in the game. Carter drove to the hoop for two at 2:21 and followed with a jumper a minute later, sandwiching a Japan bucket and with 1:21 to go the USA's lead remained in double digits 73-60. Japan hit a pair of 3s, but time ran out before the Asian squad could get any closer.
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"Our execution through three quarters was great," added McConnell-Serio. "And then 'Sug' (Alecia Sutton) goes down, we made some subs and we had a letup. We hit a stretch where we couldn't score and they were hitting shots. They never quit, and we didn't expect them to, but we needed to do a better job of taking care of the ball and continuing to attack. I thought we settled for jumpers instead of attacking. They made shots and picked us apart a little bit when we fell asleep defensively."
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Through the first three quarters of the contest, the USA shot 47.7 percent (28-60 FGs), had outrebounded Japan 41-30 and committed just seven turnovers, off of which Japan scored just four points. In the fourth quarter, however, the USA's shooting turned cold and the Americans hit just 23.5 percent (4-17 FGs) of its attempts, while Japan went from a 33.9 percent shooting team through three quarters to one that was on fire with 62.5 percent (10-16 FGs) in the final stanza. Seven of the USA's 14 turnovers in the game were committed in the final 10 minutes of play and Japan managed to score eight points from those miscues.
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"I think all great teams make a run," said Walker. "We knew it was coming. We just had to come back from that."
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Led by Ruthy Hebard's (Oregon/Fairbanks, Alaska) monster double-double of 24 points on 11-of-15 shooting from the field and 14 rebounds, the USA's offensive attack was bolstered by Carter, Megan Walker (Connecticut/Chesterfield, Va.) added 11 points and Tyasha Harris (South Carolina/Noblesville, Ind.) chipped in 10 points and dished out a team-high six assists.
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"They were a little smaller, so I definitely tried to use that to my advantage and just go to work and go strong to the boards today," said Hebard, who is averaging 12.2 points and 8.5 rebounds through six games.
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Russia defeated Canada (5-1) 65-41 earlier in the evening. Canada will go up against Japan for the bronze medal.
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The USA has earned a record seven gold medals and one bronze in 11 previous U19 World Cups. Russia has captured three silver medals while Canada and Japan have never medaled at the event.
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"For three quarters, our execution was great on both ends of the floor," said USA U19 and University of Pittsburgh head coach Suzie McConnell-Serio. "Defensively, we talked about staying home on shooters, not coming off contested drives and trying to stay in plays to challenge all shots and dominate the boards. But, this was a team that can pick you apart when you gamble and go for steals or don't box out - they will capitalize on those opportunities. We were solid for three quarters, and then we had a letup."
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The USA held a slim 24-22 lead after the first quarter, which saw the lead change sides seven times, and the score see-sawed in the early minutes of the second period.
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With the score knotted for the ninth time in the contest, this time at 30-all, Carter drove to the basket for the first two points in what would become a 17-3 run over the final 5:27 of the first half. Offensively, Walker scored seven points, including a first-half buzzer-beating 3-pointer, Carter had six and Hebard contributed four points. On the defensive end, the American women forced Japan into 1-of-8 shooting from the field and three turnovers.
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"They're definitely very fast on their feet," said Hebard. "They played really good defense. They bumped us inside, but I thought we had good ball movement tonight and we just shut them down."
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Storming out of the locker room, the USA got four points apiece from Hebard and Alecia Sutton (Texas/St. Louis, Mo.) before Japan swished in a 3 at 6:17. Another 8-0 spurt, fueled by field goals from four different players, put the USA in the lead 63-36 with 3:19 to play in the third period. Japan got hot and outscored the U.S. 7-2 to close to cut the deficit to 22 points, 65-43, at the end of the third quarter.
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"I feel like it was our energy off the bench," said Walker of the team's play through the first 30 minutes of play. "We focused on our defense, not sucking in to help and we were closing out to shooters."
Japan continued to be hot, headed into the fourth period, notching the first eight points in an eventual 14-4 scoring spree to narrow the gap to 11 points, 69-58, with 3:20 remaining in the game. Carter drove to the hoop for two at 2:21 and followed with a jumper a minute later, sandwiching a Japan bucket and with 1:21 to go the USA's lead remained in double digits 73-60. Japan hit a pair of 3s, but time ran out before the Asian squad could get any closer.
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"Our execution through three quarters was great," added McConnell-Serio. "And then 'Sug' (Alecia Sutton) goes down, we made some subs and we had a letup. We hit a stretch where we couldn't score and they were hitting shots. They never quit, and we didn't expect them to, but we needed to do a better job of taking care of the ball and continuing to attack. I thought we settled for jumpers instead of attacking. They made shots and picked us apart a little bit when we fell asleep defensively."
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Through the first three quarters of the contest, the USA shot 47.7 percent (28-60 FGs), had outrebounded Japan 41-30 and committed just seven turnovers, off of which Japan scored just four points. In the fourth quarter, however, the USA's shooting turned cold and the Americans hit just 23.5 percent (4-17 FGs) of its attempts, while Japan went from a 33.9 percent shooting team through three quarters to one that was on fire with 62.5 percent (10-16 FGs) in the final stanza. Seven of the USA's 14 turnovers in the game were committed in the final 10 minutes of play and Japan managed to score eight points from those miscues.
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"I think all great teams make a run," said Walker. "We knew it was coming. We just had to come back from that."