Paris Helps USA Clinch Top Seed

TUNIS, Tunisia -- South Korea's (3-2) high speed, full-court pressing, 3-point bombing show was no match for the 12-woman team effort the USA Women's U19 World Championship Team gave Wednesday night in Tunis, Tunisia. Featuring seven players scoring in double digits and led by Crystal Langhorne's (Maryland/Willingboro, N.J.) 21 points, the U.S. capped preliminary play with a spectacular 124-74 victory over South Korea (3-2). The win kept the USA's record perfect and earned the Americans the No. 1 seed for Group A and a game against Group B's No. 4 seed Hungary (3-2) in Friday's quarterfinals.

The USA and Hungary are familiar opponents having met in a pair of exhibition games in Budapest, Hungary, on July 9 and 10. The U.S. rolled to an 82-42 win on July 9, then was surprised 75-67 by Hungary the following night.

"We're really excited to have the opportunity to play Hungary again after having come away from there with a loss. I think it really humbled us and made us a much better team in the long run. I think it's really good because we have the opportunity to show how much we've learned and how much we've grown since that game," remarked U.S. head coach Gail Goestenkors.

Box Score | World Championship Schedule | USA Central

Every USA player scored in Wednesday victory, marking the third time in five games they have done so, and seven were in double figures. While Langhorne led the way with her 21 points on a USA single game field goal shooting percentage record 9-for-9 shooting night, Erlana Larkins (North Carolina/Riviera Beach, Fla.) added 18 points on 8-of-9 shooting and pulled down a team high eight rebounds. Marissa Coleman (St. John's College H.S./Cheltenham, Md.) accounted for 17 points, Courtney Paris (Piedmont H.S./Piedmont, Calif.) tossed in 16 points, Nicky Anosike (Tennessee/Staten Island, N.Y.) finished with 15 points, Abby Waner (ThunderRidge H.S./Highlands Ranch, Colo.) was credited with 14 points and seven assists, and Candice Wiggins (Stanford/Poway, Calif.) posted 10 points.

Paris finished the pool play portion of the championship with averages of 12.6 points and 7.4 rebounds, both of which ranked third on the squad. Her output against South Korea was representative of her cummulative effort in the tourney. She was able to score 16 points and snag 7 rebounds in just 13 minutes of action. Futhermore, in five games her scoring and rebounding are among the best on the team despite the fact she has never recorded a start and is playing behind Langhorne and Larkins, who are combining to average 27.4 points. The Sooner-to-be is fourth on the team with an average of 17.6 minutes per game.

"I'm very pleased with how we played tonight," Goestenkors added. "South Korea puts tremendous pressure on the ball and they are very risky with their presses. They constantly go for steals and we did an excellent job of taking care of the basketball, moving the ball, and advancing the ball down the court and putting the pressure on their post players."

South Korea's relentless, fast-paced scramble seemed to suit the U.S. just fine. Hitting its first five shots and nine of its first 12, with 5:33 left in the opening quarter the Americans had opened a 22-7 lead and Langhorne had 11 of the points.

South Korea's 3-point barrage continued and with 41 second left in the first quarter the deficit was down to 10, 30-20. But Erika Arriaran (Norco H.S./Norco, Calif.) nailed a baseline jumper at the buzzer and the U.S. owned a 32-20 lead after one quarter.

Langhorne went back to work at the start of the second quarter and behind her six points the USA opened the second quarter with a 13-5 run that ballooned the lead to 45-25 with 6:15 to play before half.

South Korea lagged behind 54-39 with 2:13 remaining and the USA, getting four points from Coleman, assembled a 9-0 offensive spurt to end the quarter and push its lead to 63-39 at halftime.

The USA was impressive in the game's first 20 minutes, making 66.7 percent of its shots, while outrebounding South Korea 23-4, and forcing the Koreans into 12 turnovers.

The second half continued to be all USA, as the red, white and blue never let South Korea back in the game and at the end of three quarters led 95-59.

"We knew we had the advantage in the post with our size and strength and our guards did an excellent job getting our posts the ball down low and they finished strong. They really did a great job on both ends of the floor for us because it was difficult because they had to go out and defend 3-point shooters as well," stated Goestenkors.

"We're a fast team, but they were quick. They're all over the place and it's a completely opposite team then what we have ever played before. The coaches described it before the game as wild and chaotic, and it can create turnovers. But once we got the hang of it, slowed down and found the middle, we started to play our kind of game," stated Waner.

Waner's seven assists, the majority of which found their way to USA post players, led the USA's passing effort which resulted in a USA single game record 34 assists. "Really throughout this tournament our posts have kind of been the key for us. If you look at it on paper you can see how much bigger we are. Our posts are so much better than any other posts here and they will dominate the inside. You can't force it in but throughout the game the middle will open up and our posts will take over the game," said Waner.

In Wednesday's other preliminary round play, in Group A, Serbia & Montenegro (2-3) rolled past Congo (0-5) 88- 74, while Russia (4-1) strolled to an 87-43 win over Puerto Rico (1-4). In Group B play, Australia (4-1) earned its Group's No. 1 seed after knocking off previously undefeated China (4-1) 77-66. Hungary (3-2) took care of Tunisia (0-5) 82-61, and Spain (3-2) won a defensive battle against Canada (1-4) 57-37.

Goestenkors feels confident that her team understands that they are now at the part in the tournament schedule where one loss and your gold medal hopes are done. "Because many of them have played in college, or even in high school you have your state tournaments, they understand how playoffs work and that it's one and done. They know that we need to be very focused and ready to play. We've had tremendous focus over these last several games and I feel like at this point we're very tournament ready."

Serving as assistant coaches to head coach Goestenkors are Felisha Legette-Jack, head coach at Hofstra University's (N.Y.), and Carol Ross, head mentor at the University of Mississippi.

To be eligible for the 2005 USA U19 World Championship Team, an athlete must have been born on or after Jan. 1, 1986 (19-years-old or younger).

Formerly known as the FIBA Women's Junior World Championship and held every four years since 1985, the U.S. boasts of a 24-10 overall record and has captured one gold and one bronze medal. In 2001, at the most recent tournament, a USA Basketball team piloted by University of Connecticut's Geno Auriemma and featuring players like Alana Beard and Diana Taurasi collected the bronze medal with a 6-1 record.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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