Brianna Turner helped the U.S. claim gold at the U19 World Championship, then aided the USA to gold at the FIBA 3x3 U18 World Championship.
Australia kept pace in the sec-
ond half, but never threatened, as the USA won the third quarter 19-17 and the fourth quarter 20-17. Tuck finished as the USA’s sec-
ond-leading scorer and rebounder with nine points and seven points, while Harper and Jones dished out five assists apiece and Jefferson had four of the USA’s 22 assists. The USA finished the game hitting
an even 40.0 percent of its field goals, while Australia made 34.4 percent. The USA won the battle of the boards by a 48-39 margin and turned the ball over just 13 times compared to Australia’s 19.
USA 61, France 28 Behind a stifling defensive effort,
USA 61, France 28 July 28, 2013
USA
Stewart Tuck
Graves Harper Plum Green Turner Coffey Wilson Agee
Totals FRA
Jefferson 27 2- 8 0- 0 3 52 4 Jones
32 6-13 1- 2 9 12 16 24 3-10 0- 0 4 02 6 22 2- 6 5- 6 8 00 9 23 3- 7 0- 0 3 11 6 5 1- 2 0- 0 1 00 2 7 1- 2 0- 0 2 00 2 6 0- 2 0- 0 1 00 0 10 1- 3 0- 0 2 01 3 14 2- 2 0- 0 4 00 4 4 0- 1 0- 0 1 00 0 200 24-65 9-11 48 10 11 61
Turcinovic 30 1-12 0- 0 5 00 2 Epoupa Ayayi
Djaldi-Tabdi 20 2- 7 0- 0 4 02 4 Gaye Paget
Badiane 26 1- 3 0- 0 6 01 2 Toure
3 0- 0 0- 0 0 00 0 11 1- 1 0- 0 1 00 2
Lithard Marsac Sissoko Totals
USA France
6 0- 2 0- 0 1 00 0 4 0- 0 0- 0 2 00 0 9 0- 1 0- 0 1 01 0 200 13-60 1- 2 37 2 13 28
17 10 20 14 -- 61 8 12 62 -- 28
3-PT FGs-USA (4-15): Stewart 3-5, Coffey 1-1, Jones 0-3, Tuck 0-1, Jefferson 0-3, Plum 0-1, Green 0-1; France (1-12): Epoupa 1-1, Djaldi-Tabdi 0-1, Ayayi 0-3, Turcinovic 0-5, Lithard 0-1, Sissoko 0-1. TO-USA 18, France 24; BLKS-USA 4, France 4; STLS-USA 15, France 4.
56
34 1-12 1- 2 1 03 3 31 3-12 0- 0 3 15 6
MIN FG FT R A PF PTS 26 4-10 0- 0 5 11 9
MIN FG FT R A PF PTS 26 3- 9 3- 3 4 33 9
as well as 16 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots from tournament MVP Stewart, the USA held France to just eight points in the second half en route to a 61-28 victory and the USA’s fifth-straight FIBA U19 gold medal. “I was thinking, not many people
get this,” said Meier after hearing the USA’s national anthem being played as the flags were raised. “I teared up a little bit. My voice cracked. I was singing as loud as I could. I’m awfully proud. It’s so much to share it with the others and the people that were on the journey with you. That’s really the joy of it all.” The USA battled France to a 66-63
victory just four nights earlier, so both squads knew a tough fight loomed ahead. While France got on the board first,
it was a back and forth affair for the first five minutes. Working inside and trying to get a put-back, Bashaara Graves, who scored nine and grabbed eight caroms, was instead sent to the line. She knocked down both attempts to break the third tie early in the game and put the United States up for good, 8-6. The free throws ignited an 11-2 run by the Americans, who capped the first quarter up 17-8. After Stewart got a put-back to give
her squad its first double-digit lead of the night, France answered with four straight points to pull within seven, 19-12, at 7:15.
The USA countered with its own
mini-spurt, receiving a bucket from Stewart and a 3-pointer from Coffey, and doubled up on France, 24-12. France outscored the U.S. 8-3 in the closing minutes of the first half to close the gap at halftime to 27-20. “Obviously we had to grind it out on
the offensive end,” said Meier. “At half- time we talked about our defense. They had only scored 20 points and that was huge for us. So, we just said that when push comes to shove, you win champi- onships with your defense, so go out there and lock down and stay together as a team. That was just an amazing performance.” Tuck, who averaged a USA second-
best 13.1 points a game during the tour- nament, scored all of her six points in an 8-4 spurt to open the second half and with 4:45 remaining in the third the USA led 37-24. Forty seconds later France managed to knock down a jumper to bring the score to 37-26. From there, the USA’s trademark
defense began firing on all cylinders. France shot 0-of-6 and turned the
ball over three times over the remainder of the period, while the USA scored 10 unanswered points and with 10 minutes to play the gold was virtually in hand, 47-26.
The American onslaught continued
in the fourth quarter as France surren- dered another 10-0 run before hitting its lone bucket of the period and the U.S. went on to win 61-28. Jefferson was credited with game-
highs of five assists and four steals; while Jones scored five points, had three assists and three steals. “It definitely felt amazing,” said
Coffey after winning gold. “Honestly, I can’t even put to words what I felt, but it was truly a blessing to be a part of this team. To play together to win the gold is actually a dream come true. “(The coaching staff was) absolutely
amazing,” she continued. “They were so supportive. They had us prepared for every game. They did a really great job of encouraging us and helping us get to the gold. They were great.” In all, the USA held France to an
ice-cold 21.7 percent shooting from the field, including a frigid 1-of-12 from afar; outrebounded the French 48-37, scored 22 points off of 24 turnovers, and outscored France 18-2 on the fast break.
USA Basketball News
Caroline Williams/USA Basketball
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