Story Links
July 27, 2007
BRATISLAVA, Slovakia – Virginia’s Monica Wright (Woodbridge, Va.) helped the USA Basketball U19 World Championship Team to a 95-25 win over Ivory Coast in the first game of the pool play at the 2007 World Championships in Slovakia.
Prior to the game, the rising sophomore learned that her teammates elected her as team captain for the games. Wright finished the game with nine points and three steals.
July 26
USA 95, Ivory Coast 25
The USA Women’s U19 World Championship Team (1-0) jumped out to a 30-5 first quarter lead and never looked back to cruise to a 95-25 win over Ivory Coast (0-1) to open preliminary play Thursday in Bratislava, Slovakia.
Led by game-highs of 17 points and 12 rebounds from Krystal Thomas (The First Academy / Orlando, Fla.) and 13 points from both Angie Bjorklund (University H.S. / Spokane, Wash.) and Jantel Lavender (Cleveland Central Catholic H.S. / Cleveland, Ohio), all 12 U.S. players scored in the contest.
“The issue for us tonight was just to be able to get our players to stay focused,” said USA U19 and DePaul University (Ill.) head coach Doug Bruno. “Ivory Coast worked very hard against us, and our players just executed what we need to execute to get ready for a much tougher opponent tomorrow in China.”
Maya Moore (Collins Hill H.S. / Lawrenceville, Ga.) sparked the red, white and blue with eight of the USA’s first 12 points during a 4:22 minute span that left the score 12-3 as Ivory Coast called its first timeout at 5:38. The breather couldn’t halt the U.S. onslaught, however, as five Americans scored during a 18-2 run to close the first period up 30-5.
The U.S. leaders shifted throughout the game as the USA went on to outscore Ivory Coast 21-5 in the second, 22-8 in the third and 22-7 in the fourth quarter. Melissa Lechlitner (Notre Dame / Mishawaka, Ind.) scored six of her seven points in the second quarter, while the fourth period belonged to Krystal Thomas, who recorded 10 of her game-high 17 points during the final 10 minutes.
The USA also was helped by nine points from team captain Monica Wright (Virginia / Woodbridge, Va.)and seven points and seven rebounds from Kayla Pedersen (Red Mountain H.S. / Fountain Hills, Ariz.). Italee Lucas (Centennial H.S. / Las Vegas, Nev.) dished a game-high four assists and Vicki Baugh (Sacramento H.S. / Sacramento, Calif.)collected eight rebounds.
The USA will face China on July 27 before concluding preliminary round play on July 28 against Lithuania. The second round will be contested July 30-Aug.1, the quarterfinals are slated for Aug. 3, semifinals will be held Aug. 4, and the gold medal will be contested July 5.
For complete USA Basketball release, visit: www.USABasketball.com.