Paris Shines In Gold Medal Game

SAN DIEGO, Calif. -- It was all smiles for the 4-0 and gold medalist USA women's team. (Photo: Scott Kurtz)

Behind the inside dominance of Courtney Paris' (Piedmont H.S. / Piedmont, Calif.) 15 points and 10 rebounds, and Crystal Langhorne's (Maryland / Willingboro, N.J.) 14 points and eight boards, The USA (4-0) women earned gold with a 73-57 win over Russia (2-2) at the 2005 International Sports Invitational Saturday evening at San Diego State's Cox Arena.

The women's basketball competition was held June 8-11 in San Diego as a part of the multi-sport 2005 International Sports Invitational.

The 2005 International Sports Invitational was the opening training for the 15 finalists for the 2005 USA Basketball U19 World Championship Team. Following a two week break after finishing the International Sports Invitational, the U.S. will regroup in Colorado Springs, Colo., for a June 28- July 2 training camp, then train July 3-6 in Washington, D.C. Following five additional days (July 7-11) of training and two exhibition games against Hungary's U19 Team in Budapest, Hungary, the 2005 USA U19 Team will travel to Tunis, Tunisia, for the July 15-24 FIBA U19 World Championship Tournament.

"I'm please about winning the gold medal here, but we have so many things to work on. This has been a great experience for us because it has shown us some of our strengths and also some of our weaknesses. I'm excited about the opportunity to go back and break things down and build a championship team," USA head coach Gail Goestenkors added.

As had been the case in the USA three earlier wins, it was its inside dominance and scrappy defense that fueled the USA to victory over Russia in the gold medal game.

"I think everybody on this team does something really well otherwise you wouldn't be here. I know my strength is my inside game so I posted up strong and our guards got it in and I was able to convert," said Paris.

Courtney Paris played big in the gold medal game, recording 15 points and 10 rebounds in the USA's 73-57 victory over Russia.

"Coach G talked about defense and that's been one of our big things. We talked about keeping them under 60 points and that's exactly what we did tonight which was really cool," added the future University of Oklahoma Sooner Paris.

Tied 10-10, three different U.S. players scored in a 7-0 run by the U.S. that saw the American jump to a 17-10 advantage with 2:21 left in quarter one. From there, Russia never again got closer than five points.

Taking a 22-15 lead into the second quarter, Russia lagged behind by five, 29-24, with 2:41 left before half, but Paris scored on back-to-back possessions in a mini 5-0 USA run that lifted the Americas ahead 34-24.

Taking a 34-28 lead into the third quarter, the U.S. held Russia to just 10 points in the third to take command 56-38. The USA outscored Russia 22-10 in the third quarter and defensively frustrated Russia into 2-for-18 shooting for the quarter.

Russia rallied one last time. Mounting a 9-1 run, Russia cut the U.S. lead to 10, 57-47, after Natalia Bogdanova hit a jumper with 7:32 to play. Essence Carson (Rutgers / Paterson, N.J.) made one of two free throws, then Paris converted on a fastbreak to push the red, white and blue's lead to 60-47. Russia's Elena Reshetko scored to make it 60-49, but the Americans reeled of eight straight points as Langhorne, Paris, Candice Wiggins (Stanford / Poway, Calif.) and Erlana Larkins (North Carolina / Riviera Beach, Fla.) scored consecutive baskets as the U.S. grabbed control 68-49 to break Russia's back.

"We just picked up our defensive intensity in that third quarter and it seems like its been taking us a half to really find our rhythm and I think part of that reason is we're trying play so many players it's hard to find great chemistry for extended periods of time," said Goestenkors.

"We really settled in in the second half and did a much better job and took advantage of our post play. Our posts were dominating offensively and we stopped going to them late in the second quarter. I thought we made some good adjustments in the second half and pulled out a win."

The U.S. dominated on the glass, grabbing 51 rebounds, including 24 offensive boards. The U.S. contingent shot just 38.6 percent from the floor, but Russia faired even worse, managing to make just 30.0 percent of its shots.

Press release is compliments of USA Basketball. For a box score and additional information please visit www.usabasketball.com.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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