BRNO, Czech Republic (July 15, 2001) -- Like a bull in a china shop, the USA Basketball Women's Junior World Championship Team (2-0) shattered the Chinese (0-2) 84-52 in its second preliminary round game at the 2001 FIBA Junior World Championship. Ann Strother (Highlands Ranch H.S. / Castle Rock, Colo.) paced the USA scoring attack with 13 points as all 12 members contributed in the scoring column, with four finishing in double digits.

In other Group B action, Russia (2-0) edged Lithuania (0-2) 69-67, while Brazil (2-0) cruised past Mali (0-2) 98-34. In Group A, France (1-1) defeated Cuba (1-1) 71-66, while Poland and the Czech Republic will play at 5:45 p.m. (all times local) and the Japan versus Australia match will tip-off at 8:00 p.m. The United States continues preliminary round action at 8:45 a.m. on July 16 against Brazil.

"The sustained energy level of our team was like night and day between yesterday (vs. Lithuania) and today," said USA and University of Connecticut head coach Geno Auriemma. "Especially the way we approached the defensive end. We were really focused on defense and then there was great ball movement on the offensive end. Everybody was involved in our offense, the ball changed hands on the floor a lot. There really is almost no comparison between the way we played yesterday and the way we played today. This is one of the better games, if not the best game, that we've played since the team' s been together. Our transition game and our ability to get everybody involved offensively was a result of the fact that we could get out on the break. That's what blew the game open. It was a game until our defense took over."

"Today's game was a lot better than yesterday's," said Strother. "Overall we played together as a team and everyone played well. That was why, it was the energy. Everyone was excited for this game and came in with a lot of energy and cheered for each other."

China kicked off the contest with a 3-2 edge over the Americans at the eight minute mark, but its upper hand was short lived as the U.S. sprinted out to a 15-4 lead with 3:27 to go in the first quarter. During the USA's 13-2 run, high school senior-to-be Strother scored seven consecutive points and Nicole Powell (Stanford / Phoenix, Ariz.) tossed in four of her eventual nine points. Following China's second field goal of the first quarter at 1:35, Jessica Moore (Connecticut / Palmer, Alaska) drove the lane for a layup with 13 seconds showing on the clock to give the United States a 17-6 lead at the end of the period. The USA's defense wore down China from the beginning and at the end of 10 minutes China had five turnovers and was held to a paltry 13.3 percent (2-15 FGs) shooting from the field. Unlike the USA's contest against Lithuania on July 14, the U.S. never let up and over the course of the first four minutes of the second quarter, following a Diana Taurasi (Connecticut / Chino, Calif.) 3-pointer, held a 29-11 advantage. Following a China field goal, the U.S. orchestrated a 13-2 run, which included a pair of Strother 3-pointers, to move ahead 42-15 at 1:53. At the end of the half the U.S. was up 43-19.

Swapping baskets to open the third quarter, with 4:57 on the clock the score was 56-34 in favor of the Americans. The U.S. used the final minutes of the third period to put the nail in the coffin, stringing together 14 unanswered points and at the end of the third the United States was up 70-34. The U.S. eased up in the fourth quarter and walked away with its second victory in as many days.

In addition to Strother's 13 points, the U.S. offense was bolstered by 11 points from Jessica Moore, while Alana Beard (Duke / Shreveport, La.) and Taurasi pitched in 10 apiece. Beard, who saw limited playing time after being whistled for her third foul with 7:46 to play in the first half, scored all 10 of her points in the third quarter. For the second game in a row Powell led the squad on the boards with 10 rebounds. Beard and Rutgers University (N.J.) freshman-to-be Cappie Pondexter (John Marshall H.S./ Chicago, Ill.), who recorded eight points and eight rebounds, passed off for four assists each, while University of Tennessee incoming freshman Loree Moore (Narbonne H.S. / Harbor City, Calif.) notched four steals.

"We had a lot of energy today," said Powell. "Everyone played really well, everyone was energized and everyone played awesome. We hit our shots. What was really good about today is that everyone contributed to the win. It's important for everyone to contribute and we all did that."

The United States boxed China out all day long, outrebounding the Chinese a whopping 60-24, including 24 offensive boards. The U.S. also shot well, hitting 47.3 percent of its shots from the field and a respectable 38.9 percent from 3-point, while its defense limited China to 32.8 percent from the floor and 26.1 percent from afar. However, the United States was forced into 24 turnovers, compared to 18 by the Chinese. In a testimony to its unselfish play, the red, white and blue passed off for a total of 17 assists on 35 field goals.

"We were very excited today," commented Loree Moore. "The enthusiasm was going and we had a lot of energy. Everybody was ready to play. After yesterday's game, the talk that coach had with us, made us all decide to come out ready to play and everybody put their game faces on.

"My plan was to attack, attack, attack," added Loree Moore. "Get on the ball and make things happen."

Assisting Auriemma on the sidelines are collegiate head coaches Sherri Coale, from the University of Oklahoma, and Willette White, from Northeastern University (Mass.). The United States will play Brazil on July 16, followed by a day off, and will face Mali on July 18 before completing preliminary action versus Russia on July 19. Competing in Group A are Australia, Cuba, host Czech Republic, France, Japan and Poland. The top two teams in each preliminary group will advance to the medal semifinals with the first place team in Group B facing the second place team in Group A at 5:45 p.m. on July 21, followed by the top team in Group A versus the second team in Group B at 8:00 p.m. that evening. The winners of those games will play for the gold medal at 8:00 p.m. on July 22, while the bronze medal will be contested at 5:45 p.m. that evening.

Defending FIBA Junior World Championship gold medalist, the United States earned the gold with an exciting 78-74 overtime victory over then-defending Junior World Champions Australia in the 1997 competition. Held every four years since 1985, the U.S. finished no better than fifth in the first three competitions. The USA's win today pushed the Americans' overall record at the Junior Worlds to 20-9 (69.0 winning percentage).

OFFICIAL BASKETBALL BOX SCORE  G A M E   T O T A L S
United States vs China
7/15/01 3:30 p.m. at Arena Rondo  Brno, Czech Republic

VISITORS: United States (20)
                          TOTFG  3PT         REBOUNDS
No.     N A M E           FG FGA FG FGA FT FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP   A TO BLK S MIN
06 BEARD, Alana         *  5  8   0  0   0  0   0  2  2   3  10   4  3  1  1 16
07 STROTHER, Ann        *  5  8   3  4   0  0   2  4  6   3  13   2  3  0  1 25
08 TAURASI, Diana       *  4 13   1  6   1  2   1  3  4   1  10   3  2  0  0 30
12 POWELL, Nicole       *  4  5   1  1   0  0   5  5 10   1   9   1  3  0  2 20
13 MOORE, Jessica       *  5  7   0  0   1  2   2  5  7   2  11   0  1  1  2 23
04 PONDEXTER, Cappie       3 11   0  1   2  2   3  5  8   1   8   4  3  0  1 21
05 CURRIE, Monique         1  2   0  0   0  2   0  1  1   2   2   0  1  0  1 5
09 CHRISTON, Shameka       2  9   2  5   1  2   4  5  9   1   7   1  1  3  0 15
10 WHITLEY, Wynter         0  0   0  0   1  2   2  0  2   0   1   0  0  1  0 6
11 MOORE, Loree            2  3   0  1   0  2   1  3  4   0   4   1  5  0  4 22
14 STEPHENS, Stacy         3  5   0  0   1  2   4  1  5   3   7   0  0  0  0 9
15 BJORKLUND, Tera         1  3   0  0   0  0   0  2  2   1   2   1  1  0  1 8
TEAM ........................................   0  0  0              1
TOTALS                    35 74   7 18   7 16  24 36 60  18  84  17 24  6 13 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 1738  .447   2nd Half: 1836  .500   Game:  .473 DEADBALL
3Pt. FG% 1st Half:  512  .417   2nd Half:  2 6  .333   Game:  .389  REBOUNDS
F Throw % 1st Half:  4 8  .500   2nd Half:  3 8  .375   Game:  .438      4

HOME TEAM: China (02)
                          TOTFG  3PT         REBOUNDS
No.     N A M E           FG FGA FG FGA FT FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP   A TO BLK S MIN
4  HUANG, Jing          *  2  8   0  3   1  2   1  2  3   2   5   5  4  0  6 38
9  YUAN, Liang          *  1  5   0  3   0  0   0  0  0   1   2   0  2  0  0 12
10 REN, Lei             *  1  5   0  1   1  2   1  4  5   0   3   0  0  0  1 10
12 ZHANG, Fan           *  0  3   0  0   0  0   0  1  1   0   0   0  0  0  0 8
15 CHEN, Nan            *  0  0   0  0   0  2   1  0  1   0   0   0  1  0  1 7
5  WANG, Ying              0  2   0  2   0  0   0  0  0   2   0   0  0  0  0 6
6  BAI, Xue                6 11   4  8   0  4   1  0  1   3  16   1  2  0  0 26
8  LI, Shasha              2 12   1  5   0  0   1  4  5   2   5   1  5  0  1 24
11 SONG, Liwei             5  8   1  1   3  4   1  2  3   3  14   0  1  1  1 33
13 ZHANG, Xiaoni           1  4   0  0   1  4   0  2  2   4   3   1  2  0  4 24
14 ZHANG, Lin              2  3   0  0   0  0   1  2  3   1   4   0  1  0  0 12
TEAM ........................................   0  0  0
TOTALS                    20 61   6 23   6 18   7 17 24  18  52   8 18  1 14 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half:  732  .219   2nd Half: 1329  .448   Game:  .328 DEADBALL
3Pt. FG% 1st Half:  0 9  .000   2nd Half:  614  .429   Game:  .261  REBOUNDS
F Throw % 1st Half:  512  .417   2nd Half:  1 6  .167   Game:  .333      4

OFFICIALS:   Tomas Teluch, Moussa Toure
TECHNICAL FOULS:
United States                   none
China                           none
ATTENDANCE:  300
SCORE BY PERIODS:  1st  2nd  3rd  4th  OT1  OT2   TOTAL
United States      17   26   27   14                84
China               6   13   15   18                52

2001 FIBA Women's Junior World Championship Schedule / Results

Preliminary  Round Standings

Group A         W    L     Group B   W    L
Australia       1    0     Brazil    2    0
Czech Republic  1    0     Russia    2    0
Cuba            1    1     USA       2    0
France          1    1     China     0    2
Japan           0    1     Lithuania 0    2
Poland          0    1     Mali      0    2