shooting 9-of-11 from the line. “We knew Canada was going to
come out and play extremely well against us in the beginning, but what we told our team was, ‘a marathon isn’t won in the first mile,’” said Staley. “I like what we bring into this tournament over a 40-minute period, and I thought we responded. We got some great con- tributions off the bench. Napheesa Collier -- beautiful performance. It’s incredible to watch her operate night in and night out. This is what she does every single night; she doesn’t take plays off and that’s why she willed us to this win today.” As a team, the USA shot 29-of-33
from the free throw line (.879), and three more players reached double-digit scoring, including 16 points from Wilson, 11 points from Mabrey and 10 points from Moore. Wilson and her teammate
Mompremier suited up for the USA on their 18th birthdays. The USA jumped out to a 9-0 lead
to start the game before Canada fought back to tie the score at 11-11 at 5:42 in the first quarter. Canada, which made two 3-point-
ers in the last 2:20, led 23-21 at the first intermission. The two-point deficit was the first time in the tournament that the USA had trailed at a quarter break. “We had never been down in a game
yet, and they were a wake up call,” said of Canada. “We had to come together as a team, and it definitely helped us bond more. We saw a different side of each other. We figured out whom to call on and when to call on them.” A bucket from Collier to start the
second period knotted the score, but Canada responded and by the 7:23 mark had built a 33-27 advantage. Free throws from Turner and back-to-back three- point plays from Collier and Moore tied the game up at 35-35 at 6:01. Canada scored once more before the
USA launched an 8-0 run to create some breathing room and lead 43-37 at 3:15 when Mabrey scored on a drive to the basket.
The next three minutes were played
at a frenzied pace. Canada scored at 3:10 to end its drought, but the USA put up five more quick points thanks to a pull- up jumper from Kea and a 3-pointer
86
A’ja Wilson erupted for 25 points and 11 rebounds in the USA’s 104-74 victory over Canada in the gold medal contest.
USA
from Mabrey. Canada’s last points of the quarter came at 1:28 to make it 48-41, but the USA was not finished. Mabrey sank two free throws, and then a steal and fast-break bucket from Collier was followed by a steal and assist from Atkins that led to a bucket from Mabrey with 3.0 seconds left, and the USA head- ed to the locker room with a 54-41 lead. Turner scored the first six points of
the second half for the USA as the teams traded scores to make the score 60-45 with 8:04 remaining in the third stanza. After an offensive rebound and score from Atkins, Wilson tallied 10-straight points for the U.S. to help the red, white and blue lead 74-54 at 2:41. With just 4.6 seconds on the clock, Caldwell collected a missed Canadian free throw and pushed the ball up the floor to find Walker, who just beat the third-quarter buzzer with a 3-pointer to head into the final 10 minutes with the USA leading 83-59. With the game’s outcome secured,
the USA went on to tally 24 points to Canada’s 17 to bring the game to its 107-76 final. The USA finished with a 45-18
rebounding advantage and forced 22 Canadian turnovers.
USA 97, Argentina 51 The USA jumped out to an 11-0
lead in its semifinal game against Argentina and immediately silenced any question of which team would be playing for the gold medal. Led
by 23 points, nine rebounds and four blocked shots from Wilson, who shot 10-of-11 from the field, the USA recorded a 97-51 victory. The USA recorded 24 assists on 34
made baskets, won the rebounding bat- tle 53-23 and saw all 12 U.S. players score, while allowing Argentina 35 points in the second half after giving up just 16 points in the first half. “We put a good first half together
in which we built ourselves a big lead, and then we had a letdown in the sec- ond half,” Staley said. “I don’t know if it was their youth or just being compla-
USA 97, Argentina 51 August 9, 2014
Caldwell 21 3- 4 0- 0 0 41 9 Walker Atkins Moore
13 1- 2 0- 0 3 12 2 9 1- 1 0- 0 0 12 2
McCowan 8 1- 1 1- 2 3 01 3 Kea
Mabrey 16 3- 6 3- 4 6 22 11 Turner Collier
Mompremier 23 3- 4 5- 8 8 01 11 Shepard 16 3- 5 5-11 6 22 11 Wilson Totals
ARG
Garcia Leiva
12 1- 1 0- 0 0 11 2 19 3- 5 3- 6 6 21 9
23 3- 8 0- 0 7 72 8
20 10-11 3- 4 9 20 23 200 34-58 20-35 57 24 15 97
MIN FG FT R A PF PTS 17 4- 9 2- 4 1 12 12 24 4-13 0- 0 4 15 8
Armesto 17 0- 6 0- 0 2 11 0 Laviero Lara
6 0- 0 1- 2 1 12 1 16 1- 7 0- 2 4 03 2
Llorente 19 1- 8 0- 0 2 11 2 Giustinani 23 2- 8 0- 0 4 70 5 Rodighero 11 3- 3 0- 0 1 12 8 Arture
Albuerne 18 3-15 0- 0 1 10 8 Barzola
Ledesma 23 1- 4 0- 0 3 03 3 Totals
16 0- 2 0- 0 0 03 0 10 0- 2 2- 4 0 03 2 200 19-77 5-12 32 14 25 51
USA 30 26 20 21 -- 97 Argentina 88 23 12 -- 51
3-PT FGs-USA (9-19): Caldwell 3-4, Walker 2-10, Mabrey 2-3, Collier 2-2; Argentina (8-26): Albuerne 2-7, Garcia 2-2, Rodighero 2-2, Giustinani 1-3, Ledesma 1-2, Armesto 0-5, Leiva 0-3, Llorente 0-2; TO-USA 22, Argentina 18; BLKS-USA 9, Argentina 0; STLS-USA 8, Argentina 7.
USA Basketball News
MIN FG FT R A PF PTS 20 2-10 0- 0 5 20 6
Garrett Ellwood/FIBA Americas
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