USA Women Looking To Continue World Championship Winning Ways In Turkey At 2014 FIBA World Championship
favorite to repeat as the FIBA World Championship gold medalist this summer. But the USA crew will also be aware of the big target on their backs and the level of play required to win the world crown. The 2014 FIBA World
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Championship for Women is scheduled to be held Sept. 27-Oct. 5 in Ankara and Istanbul, Turkey. Sixteen national teams will battle for the word crown. The FIBA World Championship for
Women has been contested essentially every four years since 1953. The USA owns a record eight gold medals, one silver medal and two bronze medals in FIBA World Championship play, while compiling an all- time 97-21 record. The United States
captured the first two World Championship gold medals, finishing 5-1 in 1953 and 8-1 in 1957. The USA defeated the USSR 51-48 to claim the ‘57 championship in a game that marked the first time the two women's basketball powers had faced each other in a major competition. The Soviet Union’s
ooking to claim a fourth world title in five tries, the USA women will undoubtably be a
nations due to a lack of diplomatic relations with host country South Korea. The Soviet Union returned to the
Worlds in 1983 and scored in the final seconds to edge the U.S. 84-82 and earn its final World Championship crown as the USA went on to capture four of the next five World Championships. In 1986, the USA women, led by
Cheryl Miller, who was the leading scor- er in 1983, Teresa Edwards and Katrina McClain, sailed to a 7-0 record and the gold medal, while earning a dominating 108-88 victory over the Soviets. The United States, under the direc-
tion of head coach Theresa Grentz, and again led by Edwards and McClain,
Posting an unblemished 9-0 record,
the 1998 USA squad captured the 13th FIBA World Championship after rallying to claim come-from-behind victories in its semifinal and gold medal match-ups. In its semifinals game, after trailing by as many as 10 points in the first half, the USA rallied in the second half to earn a 93-79 victory over Brazil. In the gold medal contest against Russia, unlike the first meeting in which the U.S. dominat- ed almost from the start, the U.S. trailed for most of the game. With the U.S. trailing 61-60, Ruthie Bolton-Holifield nailed back-to-back threes to aid the U.S. to a 66-63 lead and the USA went on to earn the 71-65 victory.
2014 FIBA World Championship Facts
SITE OF COMPETITION: Turkey Preliminary Round Sites: Ankara and Istanbul, Turkey. Eighth-Finals, Quarterfinals and Semifinals Sites: Istanbul, Turkey Gold Medal and Bronze Medal Games: Istanbul, Turkey
DATES: September 27-October 5, 2014 GOLD MEDAL GAME: October 5, 2014 EVENT WEB SITE: www/
fiba.com/turkey2014
EVENT OVERVIEW: The FIBA World Championship for Women is the flagship event of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA). Sixteen nations compete for the women’s title.
QUALIFIED NATIONS: Featuring 16 teams, in addition to the host country Turkey, and the United States, which qualified by winning the 2012 Olympics, also qualified for the ‘14 World Championship through zone qualifying championships are Angola, Australia, Belarus, Brazil, Canada, China, Cuba, Czech Republic, France, Japan, Mozambique, Serbia, South Korea and Spain.
domination of women’s basketball began at the 1959 World Championship in Moscow, Russia, a world championship the U.S. chose not to participate in. The former USSR put together a
string of five straight golds (1959, 1964, 1967, 1971 and 1975), before the United States reclaimed gold in 1979. Led by Carol Blazejowski, who
averaged a USA leading 18.7 ppg., the U.S. finished 5-1 and captured the 1979 World title. An important factor in the American's gold medal campaign was a boycott by the defending champion, the Soviet Union, and five other communist
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continued its domination of women's international basketball by earning the 1990 World Championship title with a perfect 8-0 record.
Four points were all that stood
between the 1994 USA team and a third consecutive World Championship gold medal. Compiling a tournament best 7-1 record, Brazil nipped the U.S. 110-107 in the semis to advance on to the gold medal game. Faced with a rematch against host Australia in the bronze medal game, the U.S. collected a 100-95 win. Brazil earned the gold medal with a 96-87 victory over China.
The 2002 USA
Basketball Women's World Championship Team survived a close call (79-74) against the Russians in the title game to finish a perfect 9-0 and claim the gold medal. Lisa Leslie averaged 17.2 points and 8.1 rebounds a game and was selected the 2002 World Championship Most Valuable Player.
The USA in 2006
missed winning gold after coming up short 75-68 against Russia in the semifinals. The U.S. squad, however, rebounded to post a 99-59 dominating
victory over host Brazil in the bronze medal game. Australia won its first World Championship gold medal by defeating Russia 91-74.
In 2010, the most recent World Championship, under the eye of coach Geno Auriemma, the U.S. rolled through its competition by an average margin of victory of 35.1 points a game. In fact, the closest game was against then-defending world champion Australia, 83-75, in preliminary play. Diana Taurasi, Angel McCoughtry and Tina Charles led the USA offense, averaging 12.0, 11.3 and 10.7 points a game, respectively.
USA Basketball News
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