Harris Helps U.S. to Medal Semifinals

July 15, 2016

VALDIVIA, Chile ââ’¬” With a commanding 110-52 win over Venezuela, USA Basketball completed a perfect 3-0 record in preliminary round play at the FIBA U18 Americas Championship in Valdivia, Chile. South Carolina freshman guard Tyasha Harris was once again a key playmaker for the U.S., handing out six assists to go with her seven points and two steals.

Harris drew the start for the third time in as many games, and the Americans had their offense going early, hitting both inside and out to jump out to a 36-17 first-quarter lead. The second quarter saw them add just six points to that advantage, but the U.S. exploded out of halftime, putting up 23 points while holding the Venezuelans to just nine.

Through her first three international games, Harris has averaged 8.7 points, 5.0 assists and 2.0 steals at the tournament. She is shooting 50.0 percent (9-of-18) from the field, including 42.9 percent (3-of-7) from 3-point range.

With the win, the U.S. advances to the medal semifinals round of the event, returning to the court at 6 p.m. (ET) on Saturday to face the second-place team in Group B, which will be either Canada or Puerto Rico, who play at 6 p.m. tonight. All games of the tournament are streaming live at: www.youtube.com/fiba.