Paris Leads US in Final Exhibition

June 20, 2007

LA GARDE, France -- Oklahoma junior center Courtney Paris was a board short of a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds as the USA U21 World Championship Team completed exhibition play with its third consecutive victory over France.

Despite spotting France a 16-0 run in the third quarter, the USA U21 World Championship Team (3-0) completed the three-game sweep of the French U21 World Championship Team with a 71-57 victory Thursday night in La Garde, France.

The USA is preparing to defend its world title in this age group, open to athletes 21 years old or younger (born on or after Jan. 1, 1986), at the 2007 FIBA U21 World Championship, held this year June 29-July 8 in Moscow, Russia.

The Americans will remain in Antibes and train through Monday, June 25 before traveling to Moscow for the U21 Worlds.

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"I think it was a great game for us," said USA U21 National Team and Duke University (N.C.) head coach Joanne P. McCallie. "Defensively we were very strong throughout to hold them to 57 points, that was a good defensive game. Obviously we had a lapse, a significant lapse, but I thought it was good for our team to understand how quickly the transition can be effective, especially internationally. You can talk about it, you can show it on film, but when a team runs off points in transition like the French did during that one segment ...it really taught our team how to control the tempo of the game and how important it is for us to have the ball in our hands more than just for a quick shot it and let it go."

Paris, who is working on expanding her offensive arsenal, averaged 8.7 points and 8.7 rebounds. She led the team in rebounding during exhibition play and ranked fifth in scoring on the squad that includes four other All-Americans.

"I think we started off really well, which is something new for us," Said Paris. "We've been struggling in the first half, so we worked on that element. Then we had to battle a little bit, they had a good run in the third quarter, they went 16-0 so we have to work on that. I feel like we're getting better at stages and we're going to lead up to the right spot before heading to the (U21) World Championships."

Paris, the reigning AP Player of the Year started all three games and played an average of 17.3 minutes per game. She shot 45.5 percent (10-22) from the field and 54.5 (6-11) from the free throw line.

Unlike in the previous two contests, the USA never trailed and a Waner 3-pointer gave the U.S. a 5-2 at 8:04 in the opening frame. While the French would fight the rest of the game, they were never able to tie it up or go ahead the remainder of the game.

The Americans took a 15-10 first-quarter advantage as five different players scored. By halftime the USA was in a different position, owning a 15-point, 38-23, cushion, whereas in the previous two contests the score was even at the midway point.

Opening the second half on a 6-0 tear, the U.S. seemed to have the game fully in control 44-23 with 19:01 to go. However, as the USA began committing turnovers and missing shots, the French quickly capitalized on the USA's mistakes and reeled off 16 unanswered points. The hosts run ended with 14:51 remaining and the Americans holding onto a 44-39 edge and by the 8:55 mark it was just a four-point margin, 52-48.

Essence Carson (Rutgers / Paterson, N.J.) got the U.S. back on track with a jumper at 8:27, sparking a 15-3 run and with 1:50 left to play the United States was up 67-51 and closed the series with its third victory.

"I think we didn't stay focused," said Paris. "It was definitely a lack of focus on our part. They had a lot of steals and fast breaks, us not being in the right spot and things like that. As coach mentioned, we looked at the score and exhaled. We can't do that again. We have to stay up on it and wait until the end of the game to take any breaks, even if we do have a big lead."

After being charged with just seven turnovers in the first half, the red, white and blue managed to cough it up 15 times in the second half.

The Americans, which owned the glass for the third straight game, 49-31, shot 45.2 percent (28-62 FGs) on the night, including 33.3 percent (3-9 3pt FGs) from beyond the arc, while limiting France to 38.0 percent (27-71 FGs) from the field and a paltry 18.2 percent (4-22 3pt FGs) from 3-point.

France's Isabelle Yacoubou, who was the MVP of last summer's FIBA European U20 Championship, and Sandrine Gruda scored 12 points each, while Endene Miyem notched 11 and Gruda's 10 rebounds gave her the game's only double-double.

"We've been able to see how we're progressing from the first game, second game, third game," stated Wiggins. "The first game was kind of unexpected, no one knew anything about us or us about them. The second game, they really got after it, they really sat on us a little bit more. This game was a really big test and I think we did a really good job. We really played through things and we're starting to gel together as a team."

The United States was placed in Group B in the 12-nation 2007 FIBA U21 World Championship along with Australia, Brazil, Hungary, Japan and Spain. Group A includes Belgium, Canada, China, Mali, France and Russia.

Ex. 1 Recap | Ex. 2 Recap | Combined Stats

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