July 25, 2009
BANGKOK, Thailand – South Carolina freshman Kelsey Bone finished second on the team with seven rebounds to go with her 11 points in Saturday’s 100-38 USA Women’s U19 National Team win over Mali in the final game of the preliminary round of the FIBA U19 World Championships.
Every available player scored for the U.S., including five who hit for double digits. With the win, the U.S. advances to second round play as the No. 2 seed out of Group D and will face Canada (2-1), the second-ranked team from Group C, on July 27 (4:15 a.m. EDT).
Kelly Faris came off the bench to lead the balanced effort with 13 points to go with six boards; while Shenise Johnson scored 12 points; and Bone, Taber Spani and Destiny Williams each added 11 points apiece.
The red, white and blue never trailed, but Mali matched the USA’s first two baskets and knotted the game 4-4 at the 7:18 mark in the opening stanza. However, it didn’t take long for the United States to take control. A Skylar Diggins 3-pointer at 6:10 kicked-off a 25-2 scoring spree that extended into the first minute of the second period.
By the time the first quarter buzzer sounded, the USA was up 25-6, Mali had six turnovers and hit just 2-of-15 attempts from the field. At the end of the run, which was capped by four points from LaSondra Barrett, the USA was in complete control, 29-6, with 9:00 still to play before halftime.
Following a Mali bucket at 8:16, the U.S. reeled off nine straight points and left no doubt as to who would eventually take the victory. By halftime the American women owned a 55-19 lead and had 10 players already in the scoring column.
Outscoring Mali 22-13 in the third period and 23-6 in the fourth, during which time the U.S. strung together its biggest run with 16 unanswered points, the Americans sailed in for the win.
In addition to the five players who scored in double digits, Diggins and Samantha Prahalis added nine points apiece and Nnemkadi Ogwumike scored eight. Williams finished as the USA’s top rebounder with eight boards.
Layshia Clarendon was sick and did not play.
Mali’s Aissata Djibo scored a game-high 18 points for her side.
The dominating victory saw the U.S. outrebound Mali 54-27, allowing Mali just seven offensive boards. The United States’ defense stifled its opponent into shooting an icy 21.4 percent (15-70 FGs) from the field and a mere 9.7 percent (3-31 3pt FGs) from beyond the arc. In contrast, the USA hit 43.4 percent (36-83 FGs) of its shots from the field and a sizzling 47.4 percent (9-19 3pt FGs) from 3-point.
The top three finishing teams in each preliminary round group advance to the July 27-29 second round. The quarterfinals will be played on July 31, semifinal action is scheduled for Aug. 1 and the gold medal will be contested on Aug. 2.
Story from USA Basketball
