July 24, 2009
BANGKOK, Thailand – South Carolina freshman Kelsey Bone poured in 16 points in just 12 minutes on the court as the 2009 USA U19 World Championship Team (1-1) scored 64 points in the paint en route to an 88-53 victory over China (1-1) in FIBA U19 World Championship play on Friday in Bangkok, Thailand.
Also scoring in double digits were Nnemkadi Ogwumike, who posted a double-double with 18 points and 14 rebounds, and Skylar Diggins, who tossed in 13 and dished out a game-best six of the USA’s 18 assists. Additionally, Chay Shegog posted six points and grabbed eight boards and Destiny Williams scored eight points.
Bone got the USA started with a put-back for the first two of the USA’s eventual 16 second-chance points only 14 seconds into the game. Bone scored six of the USA’s first 10 points and Ogwumike notched the other four, as the American women opened on a 10-2 tear less than three minutes into the contest. By the 3:37 mark in the first quarter, Ogwumike already had seven points and the U.S. was up by double digits, 17-6. By the end of the period the USA’s lead was 23-15 with 16 points coming from the paint.
The U.S. continued to pull away and by halftime the gap was up to 15 points, 40-25, and Ogwumike was one board shy of her double-double with 14 points and nine rebounds.
It didn’t take long in the second half for the USA to jump to a more comfortable advantage. Diggins grabbed a Chinese pass, got it to Samantha Prahalis, who fed it to Shenise Johnson for an easy bucket to get things rolling at 9:23. Bone hit the next two buckets, the second a put-back and with 18:12 remaining in the contest the red, white and blue was up by 21 points, 46-25. The U.S. continued to cruise and by the end of the third quarter was up 66-41.
The Americans outscored the Chinese 22-12 in the fourth quarter for the eventual win.
“I think it was just all of our preparation,” said Bone after the victory. “Our coaches did a very good job telling us what to look for, explaining how to stop their post players and preventing them from hitting their sweet spots. Our zone was really effective. Watching film and going through it during our shoot-around was very, very effective for us today.”
Outrebounding China 54-26, the U.S. led from wire-to-wire. The Americans shot 48.8 percent (40-82 FGs) from the field, while limiting China to just 29.3 percent (22-75 FGs) shooting.
Shuang Zhao was the only double-digit scorer for China with 12 points.
The U.S. closes preliminary round play against Mali on July 25 (8:45 a.m. EDT). The top three finishing teams in each preliminary round group will 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
