USA Starts FIBA World Championship 2-0
9/16/2002 9:45:53 AM | Women's Basketball
ZHANGJIAGANG, China - The USA Women's World Championship Team is 2-0 after defeating Russhia, 89-55, and Chinese Taipei, 80-39, to open up play at the 2002 FIBA World Championship. Syracuse head coach Marianna Freeman is an assistant for Team USA.
The U.S. opened tournament play with the win versus the Russians on September 14. Lisa Leslie (Los Angeles Sparks) led the squad with 20 points.
"Coming into the game we had great respect for the Russian team," said USA and Houston Comets head coach Van Chancellor. "I thought our defense was the difference in the game. Even though we scored a lot of points, we created a lot of them with tremendous team defense."
The U.S. won its second game on September 15 versus Chinese Taipei. The victory guaranteed the United States a spot in the second round of the tournament. Natalie Williams (Utah Starzz) led the U.S. with 16 points and eight rebounds.
"The great thing is that we got to pla a lot of players. We got to see a lot of different people in there," Chancellor said. "It gave natalie the opportunity to step up a little bit in there for us. The good news is that we were able to keep our defensive focus. I didn't think we were really good offensively, but once again I thought we were really good defensively."
The U.S. will play Lithuania on Monday, September 16 in their final preliminary round game. The second round begins September 18.
For more information about the 2002 USA Women's World Championship Team visit www.usabasketball.com.
