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Aug. 3, 2007
BRATISLAVA, Slovakia – Virginia’s Monica Wright (Woodbridge, Va.) and the USA Basketball U19 World Championship Team captured an 85-66 win over Czech Republic in the quarterfinal round of the 2007 World Championships in Slovakia on Friday.
The rising sophomore finished with seven points and two assists in 28 minutes of action.
Team USA now faces Spain in semifinal action on Saturday, August 4.
USA Head Coach Doug Bruno Quotes
On the game tonight:
“We are still just dealing with the issue of when to go and when to run a half-court offense. When we hurry our offense, when we act like it’s a break when it’s not a break, we vomit the ball and the other team capitalizes on that. We clean that up, and we’re a very good basketball team.”
On Jantel Lavender:
“Because Jantel has been so strong and so consistent you almost take her for granted. She came into halftime with 18 points. Their defensive schemes against Jantel were very intelligent, so for her to finish with 25 points is impressive. She scored against a very well coached team, and she still was able to put us on her back.”
On advancing to the semifinals:
“It’s going to be a very difficult game tomorrow. We need to get our rest, but I really do believe we have the talent to win.”
“I did see definite fatigue in our players today. I saw it early in the game, and this is after a day of rest. Somebody else probably is going to have to step up and do it tomorrow.”
August 3
Quarterfinals
USA 85, Czech Republic 66
Twenty-five points from Jantel Lavender (Cleveland Central Catholic H.S. / Cleveland, Ohio), 13 from Maya Moore (Collins Hill H.S. / Lawrenceville, Ga.) and a 12-point, 11-rebound outing from Allyssa DeHaan (Michigan State / Grandville, Mich.) led the USA U19 Women (7-0) past Czech Republic (3-4) 85-66 and into the World Championship semifinals Friday in Bratislava, Slovakia.
“When we understand tempo, like we did at times tonight, we are a very good basketball team, and we defended extremely well today,” said USA U19 head coach Doug Bruno. “Allyssa DeHaan was an unbelievable force off the bench. She was really a big-time difference maker. This was the first game we have been able to play Allyssa and Jantel together, and it was very effective today. And you can’t say enough about Maya’s ability to lock up the opposing team’s best player.”
The USA and Czech Republic traded scores during the first period, including four lead changes, and after a 3-pointer from Czech’s Kamila Stepanova with just 30 seconds on the clock, the USA trailed by two, 23-21, headed into the second period.
The red, white and blue, however, responded with a 15-4 run to open the second period that Lavender kicked off with a bucket in the paint at 9:38 and Krystal Thomas (The First Academy / Orlando, Fla.) capped with two of her own at 5:34 to bring the U.S. advantage to nine, 36-27. Czech Republic answered with a 10-6 run to close the period, but the USA lead 42-37 at halftime.
Another U.S. run, this time a 15-6 advantage that included six points from Moore and five from Jasmine Thomas (Oakton H.S. / Fairfax, Va.), opened the third period to bring the U.S. lead to 57-43 with 3:40 on the clock, and the game’s result never again was in question.
Lavender also collected nine rebounds; while Jasmine Thomas added 11 points, six rebounds and four assists; Krystal Thomas contributed six points and nine rebounds; Vicki Baugh (Sacramento H.S. / Sacramento, Calif.) grabbed eight boards; Monica Wright (Virginia / Woodbridge, Va.) scored seven points; and DeHaan added five blocked shots.
Czech Republic was led by 18 points from Katerina Elhotova Elhotova and 10 points from both Romana Hejdova and Lenka Sipova.
Next up for the USA is a semifinal match-up with Spain (5-2) Saturday, Aug. 2, at 8:15 p.m., local time, which is +6 hours from Eastern Daylight Time. The USA has twice beaten Spain in the past two weeks: 74-66 on July 31 in second-round action of the U19 World Championship and 79-71 in exhibition play in the Canary Islands on July 21.
The winner of the USA-Spain game will advance to the gold medal game on Sunday, August 5.
For complete USA Basketball release, visit: www.USABasketball.com.