July 21, 2015
CHEKHOV, Russia – South Carolina forward A’ja Wilson and USA Basketball rounded out group play at the FIBA U19 World Championships with a convincing 104-41 win over Egypt on Tuesday. The victory gave head coach Dawn Staley and the Group B winners their third straight win to start the tournament.
Wilson finished the contest with 14 points on 6-15 field goals to go along with seven rebounds. She has averaged a team-best 16.3 points per game at the championships, and the U.S. team captain’s nine boards per contest also rank first among the Americans.
USA scored six of the game’s first eight points, and it took a 14-9 lead into the second quarter. Wilson’s first made field goal pushed the advantage to seven (16-9), and her second bucket of the day made it 21-9 with 7:35 left in the second quarter. The rising sophomore finished the first half with nine points and five rebounds for the Americans, who led 52-18 at the break.
The U.S.’s advantage grew to 39 points (61-22) after Wilson completed the and-1 following her seventh field goal of the game. Her next basket made it 66-27, and the U.S. entered the fourth quarter with an 80-41 lead.
“We did a really good job of playing disciplined,” Staley said. “We talked to them about not playing to score, but executing the things we wanted to execute.”
The Americans ended the game in dominant fashion, scoring all 24 of the fourth quarter’s points. Through three games of the tournament, the U.S. has outscored its opponents by an average of 31.3 points.
Staley, Wilson and the U.S. return to action on Wednesday when they face Argentina in the Round of 16. Tip-off is set for 10:30 a.m. (ET).
