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Aug. 29, 2001
Beijing, China – The USA Basketball Women’s World University Games Team (5-1) defeated Brazil (3-4) 82-62 Wednesday night and advanced to the medal semifinal round. Standford’s Cori Enghusen (Bothell,Wash.) led the squad in scoring with 13 points while Oklahoma’s Caton Hill(Ada, Okla.) recorded 12 points, five rebounds and 3 steals. With the win,the USA women claim first place in pool E and will face Lithuania (5-2) onAug. 30 at 3:00 p.m. at the University Students’ Gym.
Brazil kicked off the game with a 7-2 run which was answered by eightAmerican points. The teams traded baskets and leads for most of the firstperiod and at the end of the quarter the USA held a slight 19-15 advantageover the Brazilians. In the second quarter, the USA bench expanded the teams’lead behind eight from Caton Hill and four from Oregon’s Shaquala Williams(Portland, Ore.). With 1:56 to play in the second period, the USA squad led37-27. The USA was called for 17 fouls in the first half, sending Brazil tothe free throw line 19 times, while Brazil was only called for seven foulsand the USA players never went to the line in the game?s first 20 minutes.
Brazil went on a 5-0 run to close out the first half and a 7-0 run to startoff the third period, taking over the lead, 38-37, at the 9:04 mark. TheAmericans responded with a 30-6 run to close out the third quarter 67-44. Inthe fourth quarter, the USA extended their lead to as many as 29 beforecruising in for their 82-62 victory.
Four players scored in the double digits including Enghusen, Hill andLindsey Yamasaki (Stanford / Oregon City, Ore.) and Shereka Wight (Purdue /Copperas Cove, Texas) who chipped in ten points apiece.
The USA squad outrebounded Brazil 36-27. Ayana Walker (Louisiana Tech /Houston, Texas) grabbed a team-high six rebounds while Hill?s five reboundswere matched by Wright, Carisse Moody (North Carolina State / Rocky Mount,N.C.) and Chantelle Anderson (Vanderbilt / Vancouver, Wash.).
“We were a little sluggish to start the game,” said USA and University ofVirginia head coach Debbie Ryan. “I thought we had to play with more energy.We came out in the second half and put the game away. I was able to play alot of players which was good because we were getting tired. We’ve had twobad beginning games and we’ve had two very good starts. We battle back wellin the second half. Once we get warmed up and on track we seem to playbetter.”
“I think we all knew it was going to be a game that we weren’t going to comein fired up for,” said Yamasaki. “We have been playing well and knew we weregoing to advance to the semifinals anyway. We came out in the first half anddidn’t play well because we didn’t play our type of basketball. In thesecond half we came back out and knew what we needed to do. People steppedup and everyone was able to contribute.”
“I think our bench did a really good job of coming out and picking up forthe players who needed a rest for the upcoming games,” said Hill. “We neededa win and we got it and we gave our players who get a lot of minutes a restand that’s what our main goal was. I think tomorrow’s semifinal will be agood game either way. Whichever team (Canada or Lithuania) comes, we have tofocus on beating them. We can’t get held up on grudges. We just have to playhard against either team.”
The USA – Lithuania semifinal game will be followed by the Czech Republic(5-1) – China game (5-1). The winners will advance to the gold medal gamewhich will be played on Aug. 31 at 7:00 p.m. at the Capital Gymnasium. Alltimes are local Beijing, China time which is 12 hours ahead of EDT.
Ryan is assisted by University of Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder and EastCarolina University (N.C.) head coach Dee Stokes.
The World University Games, held every two years and organized by theInternational University Sports Federation (FISU), is a multi-sportcompetition open to men and women between the ages of 17 and 28 (bornbetween Jan. 1, 1973 and Dec. 31, 1983) and who are, or have been within thepast year, a student at a college or university. The USA Women have enjoyedoutstanding success in the World University Games and have earned 11 medalsin 12 appearances, including four golds, six silvers and one bronze medal,and have compiled an overall record of 73-15 (82.9 winning percentage) sincebeginning World University Games play in 1973. In the last competition,which was held in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, the U.S. finished with a 4-2record and the silver medal. The USA Women last earned the World UniversityGames gold in Sicily in 1997.