“It hasn’t really hit me,”
Moore said after learning of being tagged MVP. “I’m just excited that we won. If one of us is talking about what MVP means, it means our team won. So, that’s what I’m most excited about. I’m just grateful to be able to contribute to this phenomenal team. Just the legacy of USA Basketball is unparalleled.” USA veteran guard Bird
became FIBA’s only women’s World Championship four-time medalist, as well as the most decorated FIBA World Championship athlete in his- tory, male or female, having now won three golds (2002, 2010, 2014) and one bronze medal (2006). “I had no idea,” Bird said of the accomplishment. “I think it really just speaks to, you know, I’ve had a lot of great coaches along the way, some amazing teammates along the way. I definitely didn’t do this by myself. And I just tried to be whatever it was that my team needed me to be, and tried to be consistent at that. And I feel very lucky that I’ve been able to do it for this long.” Among the 16-team field, the USA
led the competition in points per game (92.2), scoring margin (+28.8), field goal percentage (.542), field goal percentage defense (.323), 3-point percentage (.431), rebounding offense (50.8), rebounding defense (31.0), rebounding margin (19.8) and assists (22.3). In the U.S. competition record book,
as a team the USA set a record for rebounding average with 50.8 rebounds per game; and individually, Stewart shot 7-of-7 from the free throw line (1.000) to tie for first in free throw percentage, while Ogwumike’s 11-of-12 performance from the line (.917) tied for third; and Griner lists No. 2 for blocked shots (12) In all-time USA FIBA World
Championship play, Bird has played a record 31 games and dished out a second-best 83 assists. Stewart’s and Ogwumike’s free throw percentage marks also list first and second, respec- tively, in the career record book.
USA 87, China 56 The USA limited China to just eight
points in the third quarter while it scored 21 to capture the game’s momentum on
USA Basketball News
the way to an 87-56 win in its opening game of the 2014 FIBA World Championship. The USA’s seven-point halftime
lead, 39-32, quickly ballooned to 16 points after the USA opened the second half with a 9-0 run that made it 48-31 after a 3-pointer from Taurasi at 5:44. “It’s the kind of game that you
would hope to have as the first game of the tournament, where you have to play really well against China defensively because they do a lot of good stuff on the offensive end,” said Auriemma. “And we didn’t make any shots in the first half at all. I think in one possession we had six shots at the basket, and five of them were inside a foot-and-a-half, two feet. “So, when we went in at halftime
we talked about it, and then stuff started going in. So, it was good that we started the game in the first half under a little bit of duress and we finished the game on a high, so that’s great going into tomorrow against another really good team in Serbia.”
Griner, who was playing in her first
game with the team since arriving in Istanbul on Sept. 24, had a dunk just 1:46 into the game, grabbed seven rebounds overall and finished with 15 points and four blocked shots. Moore had 15 points and eight rebounds; Augustus added 11 points; McCoughtry had 10 points; and Charles collected 15 rebounds. All 12 players contributed
Geno Auriemma directed the USA to the 2014 World Championship title and has now claimed gold at the 2010 and 2014 World Championships and 2012 Olympics.
USA 87, China 56 September 27, 2014
USA Bird
Moore
MIN FG FT R A PF PTS 23 2- 6 0- 0 333 4 24 7-18 0- 1 832 15
Taurasi 23 3- 8 1- 2 333 8 Charles 24 2- 8 0- 2 15 22 4 Griner
17 6- 9 3- 4 712 15
Whalen 16 3- 8 0- 2 330 6 Augustus 21 5-11 0- 0 511 11 McCoughtry 12 5- 8 0- 0 312 10 Sims
Stewart
2 0- 0 2- 2 000 2 9 1- 3 0- 0 311 2
Dupree 12 2- 4 0- 0 311 4 Ogwumike 17 3- 6 0- 0 701 6 Totals 200 39-89 6-13 63 19 18 87
CHN Chen Lu
Cheng Gao
Huang Yang Li
Shao
Huamg Ji
Sun Zhang China
MIN FG FT R A PF PTS 24 4-10 0- 0 411 10 20 0- 6 2- 4 203 2 18 0- 5 2- 2 101 2 21 4- 9 0- 0 611 8 26 1- 9 0- 0 512 2 17 2- 6 0- 0 222 5 5 0- 1 0- 0 300 0 17 3- 9 3- 6 401 9 7 0- 1 0- 0 210 0 12 1- 5 0- 0 000 3 13 4- 8 1- 2 321 10 20 1- 3 3- 4 602 5
Totals 200 20-72 11-18 45 8 14 56 USA
20 19 21 27 -- 87 13 19
8 16 -- 56
3PT FGs-USA (3-12): Augustus 1-1, Taurasi 1-3, Moore 1-5, Bird 0-2, Stewart 0-1; China (5-19): Chen 2-5, Ji 1-3, Yang 1-4, Sun 1-1, Lu 0-1, Cheng 0-2, Huamg 0-1, Li 0-1, Shao 0-1. TO-USA 7, China 14; BLKS-USA 9, China 0; STLS-USA 6, China 5.
41
Ned Dishman/NBAE/Getty Images
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