Gamecocks Lead USA to Exhibition Tournament Victory
A'ja Wilson remains in the running to make the 2018 FIBA World Cup team.
A trio of Gamecocks helped USA Basketball Women’s National Team to the title at a pre-World Cup tournament in Antibes, France. Monday’s 77-60 win over host France capped a three-win weekend for the U.S. team, led by head coach Dawn Staley and including Gamecock standouts Tiffany Mitchell and A’ja Wilson.
After 11 days of training camp, which included three exhibition games on U.S. soil, the Americans traveled to France for another tuneup ahead of the FIBA World Cup in Tenerife, Spain, Sept. 22-30. Wilson was the team’s top scorer in the first two games, netting 14 points in Saturday’s 84-68 win over Canada and 22 in Sunday’s 109-58 triumph over Senegal. Monday’s game against France was the tightest of the tournament for the U.S., which led the host team by just four at 50-46 heading into the fourth quarter before powering to the win with a dominant final period.
Over the three-game tournament, Wilson led the U.S. team with 14.0 points per game on 56.7 percent shooting from the field in just 16.0 minutes per game. Mitchell added 5.7 points and 2.3 rebounds per game, shooting 41.2 percent from the field in 13.0 minutes per game.
Following the tournament, USA Basketball trimmed the 16-player roster to 13, which includes Wilson. Following a final exhibition game on Sept. 19 against Australia, USA Basketball will announce the final 12-member World Cup team.
