Paris Scores 8 as USA Wins in Rout

Sept. 27, 2007

VALDIVIA, Chile -- The USA Basketball Women's Senior National Team routed Jamaica, 115-47, Thursday afternoon in the second day of the FIBA Americas Tournament, clinching a semifinal spot.

Oklahoma's Courtney Paris was perfect in 12 minutes of action, shooting 4-for-4 from the field to score eight points. Paris also grabbed two defensive rebounds and blocked a shot.

"I thought we did a good job of adjusting and playing together, scoring some baskets and doing some good things," Paris said. "We got our starting guys going, running some things, getting better and working on things for the tougher games. And all the other guys got in and it was a lot of fun. We're going to be a lot better from it."

Tina Thompson scored 18 points and Seimone Augustus added 15 as the U.S. team scored the first nine points and never looked back.

"I was really pleased that we never lost our intensity," USA head coach Anne Donovan said. "From the beginning of the game to the end of the game I thought we really kept our energy and our intensity up. That's what you want to do in games like these -- you really want to be able to come in hard, play hard all the way through and not lose your focus. I thought that every player did a great job of that.

"We improved in a lot of areas. Our post defense was outstanding. Our ball pressure, our zone looked good. We improved in a lot of areas that we were working on."

The United States (2-0) struggled in its first game against Cuba, winning 85-79 after trailing most of the game. A day after surviving that scare, the USA looked much sharper on both offense and defense.

There was no trouble Thursday. Leading 14-7, Kara Lawson came off the bench to score five quick points and give the United States an 11-point advantage at the end of the first quarter. Jamaica could get no closer the rest of the game.

The U.S. team, which saw all 12 players score, led 48-28 at the half, then outscored Jamaica 67-19 in the second half.

The U.S. had 20 steals from 31 Jamaican turnovers.

Simone Edwards led Jamaica (0-2) with 18 points, and Nicole Louden added 14.

The United States will play Canada in the final preliminary game Friday and try to secure the top seed in Group B. Canada plays Cuba later Thursday in the other Group B game and defeated Jamaica, 68-47, Wednesday. In Group A games later Thursday, Chile is scheduled to play Brazil and Mexico will take on Argentina.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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