Photo by: USA Basketball
Chennedy Carter, USA Women's U19 Team Holds Off Spain 84-72 In Exhibition Play
Jul 17, 2017 | Women's Basketball
SPLIMBERGO, Italy (July 17, 2017) –Texas A&M freshman Chennedy Carter and the 2017 USA Women's U19 World Cup Team (1-0) got its first real taste of international competition and passed the test after earning a hard-fought, 84-72 victory over Spain's U19 squad (0-1) in exhibition play on Monday evening in Splimbergo, Italy. Carter (Arlington, Texas) chipped in 10 points to go with eight of the USA's 19 assists
Ruthy Hebard (Oregon/Fairbanks, Alaska) shot 8-of-8 from the floor and finished as the game's high scorer with 19 points, while also grabbing eight rebounds. Hebard led five U.S. athletes in double-digit scoring, including Crystal Dangerfield (Connecticut/Murfreesboro, Tenn.) with 17 points and three assists; Tyasha Harris (South Carolina/Noblesville, Ind.) finished with 12 points, three assists and five steals; and Bella Alarie (Princeton/Bethesda, Md.), playing in her first game for USA Basketball, added 10 points to go with eight caroms and four blocked shots.
"It was a great first test for us," said USA U19 and University of Pittsburgh head coach Suzie McConnell-Serio. "Spain was a very good team. They were relentless with their pressure full court, and made us work for 40 minutes. I think it was a great challenge for us to handle that type of pressure. We're trying to play 12 players and still work on combinations throughout the course of the game, but they never quit. They just kept coming at us and coming at us. I thought we had a lot of good looks throughout the game that we just didn't' finish very well. They came back and tied it. When they tied it, out of the timeout, we just talked about us needing to pick it up defensively and disrupting. That group on the floor at the end of the game finished with a 12-0 run, and gave us that win. We were able to pull away and make plays when we needed to, but it's something that, from a learning standpoint, we have to compete like that for 40 minutes and not wait until the end of the game to turn up our defense."
The U.S. continues its FIBA U19 World Cup preparations with a July 18 contest against host Italy (12:30 p.m. CT), while Latvia and Spain will face off in the evening's first contest. The exhibition tournament concludes July 19 when the USA faces Latvia (10:30 a.m. CT), followed by the closing game between Italy and Spain.
"I think it was a good game," said Hebard. "I think it was a good game to test the waters to see what other teams might throw at us, and we played really well."
In a game of swings, the score was knotted at 72-all after a Spanish jumper hit its mark with 4:10 remaining in the contest. Alarie gave the USA the lead for good with a free throw with 3:54 remaining in the game and Harris followed with a steal and layup, after which Spain called time out at 3:39 with the USA up 75-72.
Both teams were unable to convert on their ensuing possessions and on the next Spain attempt, Alarie blocked the shot and Dangerfield came up with the rebound. She passed it to Carter for a bucket at 3:07 to make it 77-72. The U.S. pressured Spain into three straight misses, while Hebard got her own put-back and following a Spanish turnover, the USA closed out the game with a Dangerfield 3 and Harris converted a steal into a fast-break layup for the game's final points as the USA capped the night on a 12-0 run.
"Coming down the stretch, Crystal hit a big 3 and Bella got to the free throw line," added McConnell-Serio. "You look at Ruthy, she had a layup and Ty (Harris) had a steal and layup. The scoring opportunities that we created down the stretch is what we need to see more often. These players are all capable of hitting shots. We could still have a little jet lag, but that's not an excuse. We still need to compete for 40 minutes. We're capable of that."
Ruthy Hebard (Oregon/Fairbanks, Alaska) shot 8-of-8 from the floor and finished as the game's high scorer with 19 points, while also grabbing eight rebounds. Hebard led five U.S. athletes in double-digit scoring, including Crystal Dangerfield (Connecticut/Murfreesboro, Tenn.) with 17 points and three assists; Tyasha Harris (South Carolina/Noblesville, Ind.) finished with 12 points, three assists and five steals; and Bella Alarie (Princeton/Bethesda, Md.), playing in her first game for USA Basketball, added 10 points to go with eight caroms and four blocked shots.
"It was a great first test for us," said USA U19 and University of Pittsburgh head coach Suzie McConnell-Serio. "Spain was a very good team. They were relentless with their pressure full court, and made us work for 40 minutes. I think it was a great challenge for us to handle that type of pressure. We're trying to play 12 players and still work on combinations throughout the course of the game, but they never quit. They just kept coming at us and coming at us. I thought we had a lot of good looks throughout the game that we just didn't' finish very well. They came back and tied it. When they tied it, out of the timeout, we just talked about us needing to pick it up defensively and disrupting. That group on the floor at the end of the game finished with a 12-0 run, and gave us that win. We were able to pull away and make plays when we needed to, but it's something that, from a learning standpoint, we have to compete like that for 40 minutes and not wait until the end of the game to turn up our defense."
The U.S. continues its FIBA U19 World Cup preparations with a July 18 contest against host Italy (12:30 p.m. CT), while Latvia and Spain will face off in the evening's first contest. The exhibition tournament concludes July 19 when the USA faces Latvia (10:30 a.m. CT), followed by the closing game between Italy and Spain.
"I think it was a good game," said Hebard. "I think it was a good game to test the waters to see what other teams might throw at us, and we played really well."
In a game of swings, the score was knotted at 72-all after a Spanish jumper hit its mark with 4:10 remaining in the contest. Alarie gave the USA the lead for good with a free throw with 3:54 remaining in the game and Harris followed with a steal and layup, after which Spain called time out at 3:39 with the USA up 75-72.
Both teams were unable to convert on their ensuing possessions and on the next Spain attempt, Alarie blocked the shot and Dangerfield came up with the rebound. She passed it to Carter for a bucket at 3:07 to make it 77-72. The U.S. pressured Spain into three straight misses, while Hebard got her own put-back and following a Spanish turnover, the USA closed out the game with a Dangerfield 3 and Harris converted a steal into a fast-break layup for the game's final points as the USA capped the night on a 12-0 run.
"Coming down the stretch, Crystal hit a big 3 and Bella got to the free throw line," added McConnell-Serio. "You look at Ruthy, she had a layup and Ty (Harris) had a steal and layup. The scoring opportunities that we created down the stretch is what we need to see more often. These players are all capable of hitting shots. We could still have a little jet lag, but that's not an excuse. We still need to compete for 40 minutes. We're capable of that."
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