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Aug. 6, 2007
BRATISLAVA, Slovakia – Virginia’s Monica Wright (Woodbridge, Va.) and the USA Basketball U19 World Championship Team captured the gold medal at the 2007 World Championships with a 99-57 win over Sweden on Sunday.
The rising sophomore finished with a game-high 19 points, two assists, and two steals.
Monica Wright Quotes
On winning gold:
“I’m just so ecstatic. I always thought we were good enough to do it. This is a great ending to this long month.”
On her game:
“I’ve learned a lot over this past month. I can go back to school and bring a lot more for my team now.”
On her experience:
“I feel like it wall was a great experience. We had our hard times, but in the end we all come through and won the gold together.”
August 5
Gold Medal Game
USA 99, Sweden 57
The USA U19 Women featured five players in double figures in an easy 99-57 win over Sweden to capture a perfect 9-0 record and the 2007 FIBA U19 World Championship title Sunday in Bratislava, Slovakia.
“You want every team you coach to peak at the right time, and I think we did that,” said USA U19 head coach Doug Bruno. “We really put everything together at medal time. I think for sure that was their best 40 minutes of basketball since we’ve been together.”
In earlier action, Serbia (8-1) held off a late run from Spain (5-4) to earn a 52-50 victory and the bronze medal.
The gold medal was never in question after the USA jumped out to a 21-5 lead just five minutes into the first quarter, including seven points from Monica Wright (Virginia / Woodbridge, Va.) and six from Maya Moore (Collins Hill H.S. / Lawrenceville, Ga.), who both when on to finish with 19 points to lead all scorers.
This age group, comprised of players born on or after Jan. 1, 1988, improves to 13-0 in FIBA aged-based competition, with the USA having won gold with a 4-0 slate at the 2006 FIBA Americas U18 Championship for Women in Colorado Springs, Colo.
The USA’s 33-16 first-quarter lead stretched to 55-33 at halftime, remained at 22 points, 72-50, after three quarters and the USA out-scored Sweden 27-7 in the fourth period to bring the final score to 99-57.
Moore also contributed 13 rebounds, six assists and three steals; Jantel Lavender (Cleveland Central Catholic H.S. / Cleveland, Ohio) added 15 points and 10 rebounds; Jasmine Thomas (Oakton H.S. / Fairfax, Va.) scored 13 points and grabbed four rebounds; Angie Bjorklund (University H.S. / Spokane, Wash.) tallied 11 points, including 3-of-4 shooting from 3-point; and Vicki Baugh (Sacramento H.S. / Sacramento, Calif.) contributed nine rebounds and three blocked shots.
Sweden was led by eight points from the 2007 U19 World Championship for Women MVP, Frida Eldebrink, and eight points from Elin Eldebrink.
The USA was also helped by a huge 68-40 advantage on the boards, including 26 offensive rebounds.
August 4
Semifinals
USA 69, Spain 46
Maya Moore (Collins Hill H.S. / Lawrenceville, Ga.) scored 15 of her game-high 24 points, including three 3-pointers, during the third quarter to help the USA Women’s U19 World Championship Team (8-0) stretch a comfortable eight point halftime lead into a 69-46 win over Spain (5-3) Saturday in Bratislava, Slovakia. The victory clinched the USA’s berth into Sunday’s gold medal contest against Sweden (6-2).
After out-scoring Spain 20-14 in the first period and 12-10 in the second, the U.S. lead stood at eight, 32-24 at halftime.
The U.S. onslaught began when Monica Wright (Virginia / Woodbridge, Va.) sank a 3-pointer just 45 seconds in the third quarter to launch an11-4 run that included 3-pointers from both Moore and Jasmine Thomas (Oakton H.S. / Fairfax, Va.), and the USA held a 43-28 advantage with 5:28 remaining in the period. Moore went on to score 12 more points in the period, and the USA never looked back. The score was 55-39 headed into the final stanza, and the USA out-scored Spain 14-7 in the fourth period to bring the final tally to 69-46.
For complete USA Basketball release, visit: www.USABasketball.com.