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USA Women Overcome Shooting Woes, Strong Cuban Team For 85-79 Opening Victory At The 2007 FIBA Americas Championship
By Craig Miller // USA Basketball // September 27, 2007
VALDIVIA, Chile (Sept. 26, 2007) – In a back and forth battle for most of the evening, the USA Basketball Women's Senior National Team (1-0) needed all four quarters to finish with an 85-79 victory over Cuba (0-1) to open play at the 2007 FIBA Americas Championship on Wednesday afternoon in Valdivia, Chile. Candace Parker (University of Tennessee) scored a team-high 21 points, Diana Taurasi (Phoenix Mercury) contributed 16, while Katie Smith (Detroit Shock) and Tina Thompson (Houston Comets) each notched 13 points. Sue Bird (Seattle Storm) had a hand in many of those points after dishing out nine assists.
The U.S., which takes on Jamaica (0-1) Thursday in a 1:30 p.m. (EDT) game that will be televised live by NBA TV, must win the gold medal at the eight-team tournament in order to secure a slot in the 2008 Olympic women's basketball tournament.
"I think it was a great win for us. Cuba is a great team and we've known that for a long time. They're very solid," said USA and Seattle Storm head coach Anne Donovan. "The difference between this game and games in the past is that we've come out strong and shot the ball real well in the first quarter to make them lose their confidence in themselves. Tonight that wasn't the case and they kept their confidence throughout the game. I have to hand it to Cuba, they played a great game. You could see how well they play together. And then give credit to us for pulling that nice win out with good execution in the fourth quarter."
Facing an athletic and well organized Cuban squad, the USA's short preparation time together became evident early on as the islanders kept pace with the North Americans through most of the game and with a little over four minutes to play the game was deadlocked at 71-71.
Eyeing a zone defense Bird drove to the hoop, bringing defenders with her and kicked it out to Smith who nailed a 3-pointer from the left side. Following a Cuban turnover Bird and Smith combined for a nearly identical play -- this time Smith was beyond the arc in the middle of the court -- and with 3:41 remaining the USA was up 77-71.
"I'm glad I could do my part," said Smith. "It gave us a little energy when it was needed, but I got some good picks from my teammates in that zone, Sue got me the ball and I'm just glad I was able to contribute and do my part. It kind of got us on a little bit of a roll, gave us a little bit of a cushion in the home stretch. Then everyone else helped take it home."
Cuba National Team veteran Yayma Boulet was able to wedge a bucket into what became an 11-2 run that saw Parker cap it with a leaning layup at 2:06, giving the United Sates an 82-73 advantage.
The red, white and blue kept up its intensity and closed out the night with the win.
"I'm really pleased with how composed we were," said Donovan. "Down the stretch you've got Katie (Smith), who has great experience, Sue's (Bird) got good experience, you have Candace Parker who is 20-years-old in the post, Becky Brunson who has no international experience with this team playing in the post also. And then Seimone Augustus has some experience playing with the national team, but not a lot of floor experience. So that last crew I thought finished that game off very well and I'm really pleased with where we are right now."
In addition to the scoring contributions by Parker, Smith, Taurasi and Thompson, DeLisha Milton-Jones (Washington Mystics) and Thompson grabbed six boards apiece and Bird was credited with four steals.
Cuban Olympian Yakelyn Plutin paced her side with 23 points and 10 rebounds.
The USA, which shot a respectable 44.4 percent (8-18 3pt FGs) from beyond the arc, was outrebounded 42-37 by Cuba.
In the day's early game Canada (1-0) defeated Jamaica 68-47. On tap for tonight's games are Brazil versus Argentina and host Chile takes on Mexico.
Donovan is being assisted by 2006 WNBA Coach of the Year Mike Thibault of the Connecticut Sun and collegiate head coaches Gail Goestenkors of the University of Texas and Temple University's (Pa.) Dawn Staley.
Teams finishing in second, third and fourth place at the 2007 FIBA Americas tournament will have one final chance to earn a spot in Beijing's 12-nation field at the 2008 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament. Those three nations along with nine other national teams from around the globe who did not claim gold at the remaining FIBA zones, including two from Africa (silver and bronze medalists), two from Asia (silver and bronze medalists), four from Europe (second through fourth place finishers) and one from Oceania (silver medalist), will compete for the final five Olympic slots at the 2008
FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
Cuba vs USA
9/26/07 4:00 p.m. at Valdivia, Chile
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VISITORS: Cuba (0-1)
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
06 PLUTIN, Yakelyn..... * 9-19 0-4 5-6 1 9 10 1 23 1 5 0 1 36
07 GELIS, Oyanaisy..... * 1-5 1-3 3-4 1 4 5 2 6 0 3 0 1 27
09 AMARGO, Yamara...... * 3-6 1-3 4-4 0 1 1 3 11 3 3 0 0 34
10 BOULET, Yayma....... * 7-11 0-0 3-5 2 1 3 4 17 0 2 0 0 21
15 AVILA, Suchitel..... * 0-7 0-3 5-5 1 5 6 2 5 1 1 0 1 28
04 ROMERO, Arlenys..... 1-5 0-2 0-0 0 2 2 0 2 2 1 0 0 12
08 SORIA, Yulizeny..... 4-6 1-3 0-0 0 0 0 0 9 0 2 0 1 14
11 MARTINEZ, Yamile.... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 5
12 NOBLET, Clenia...... 2-3 0-0 2-2 2 4 6 1 6 1 0 0 1 19
13 FERNANDEZ, Taimy.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4
TEAM................ 5 4 9
Totals.............. 27-63 3-18 22-26 12 30 42 14 79 8 17 0 5 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 0-0 0.0% 2nd Half: 27-63 42.9% Game: 42.9% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 0-0 0.0% 2nd Half: 3-18 16.7% Game: 16.7% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 0-0 0.0% 2nd Half: 22-26 84.6% Game: 84.6% 3
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HOME TEAM: USA (1-0)
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
06 BIRD, Sue........... * 2-5 0-2 2-2 1 3 4 1 6 9 3 0 4 28
11 THOMPSON, Tina...... * 5-13 2-5 1-2 2 4 6 4 13 2 4 0 0 25
12 TAURASI, Diana...... * 6-12 4-7 0-1 1 4 5 4 16 1 0 1 1 28
14 SMITH, Katie........ * 5-9 2-3 1-1 0 0 0 2 13 1 1 0 1 26
15 PARKER, Candace..... * 9-12 0-1 3-4 1 3 4 3 21 1 1 2 1 20
04 PONDEXTER, Cappie... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
05 AUGUSTUS, Seimone... 4-12 0-0 1-2 2 2 4 1 9 1 1 0 2 24
08 MILTON-JONES, DeLisha 1-6 0-0 2-3 1 5 6 1 4 0 1 0 0 17
09 LAWSON, Kara........ 1-1 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 0 2 1 3 0 1 12
10 PARIS, Courtney..... 0-0 0-0 1-2 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 6
13 BRUNSON, Rebekkah... 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 12
07 CASH, Swin.......... DNP
TEAM................ 3 2 5 1
Totals.............. 33-72 8-18 11-17 12 25 37 20 85 17 14 3 11 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 0-0 0.0% 2nd Half: 33-72 45.8% Game: 45.8% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 0-0 0.0% 2nd Half: 8-18 44.4% Game: 44.4% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 0-0 0.0% 2nd Half: 11-17 64.7% Game: 64.7% 2
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Officials: Brenda Mateo, Tatiana Steigerwald, Alejandro Ramalio
Technical fouls: Cuba-None. USA-None.
Score by Periods 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Total
Cuba.......................... 17 17 24 21 - 79
USA........................... 17 16 22 30 - 85
2007 FIBA Americas Championship Schedule & Results
Preliminary Round Pools
Pool A W-L Pool B W-L
Argentina Canada 1-0
Brazil USA 1-0
Chile Cuba 0-1
Mexico Jamaica 0-1
Preliminary Round
Wednesday, September 26
Canada 68, Jamaica 47
USA 85, Cuba 79
7:00 p.m. Brazil - Argentina
9:30 p.m. Chile - Mexico
Thursday, September 27
1:30 p.m. Jamaica - USA (live on NBA TV)
4:00 p.m. Brazil - Chile
7:00 p.m. Cuba - Canada
9:30 p.m. Argentina - Mexico
Friday, September 28
1:30 p.m. Cuba - Jamaica
4:00 p.m. USA - Canada (live on NBA TV)
7:00 p.m. Mexico - Brazil
9:30 p.m. Argentina - Chile
Semifinals
Saturday, September 29
2:00 p.m. B3 - A4 (classification semifinals)
4:30 p.m. A3 - B4 (classification semifinals)
8:00 p.m. B2 - A1 (medal semifinals)
10:30 p.m. B1 - A2 (medal semifinals)
Finals
Sunday, September 30
8:30 a.m. 7th/8th Place: classification semifinals losers
11:00 a.m. 5th/6th Place: classification semis winners
1:00 p.m. Bronze Medal: medal semifinals losers
4:00 p.m. Gold Medal: medal semifinals winners
Note: Chile's time (CLT) is the same as EDT.
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