USA Dominates WUG Opener

July 1, 2009

BELGRADE, Serbia -- Team USA (1-0) dominated France (0-1) in its opening round of pool play of the 2009 Women's World University Games Wednesday.

Played at the Palace of Sports in Belgrade, the U.S. defeated France 115-30, inheriting a 1-0 advantage in Group A by shooting 56.1 percent from the field and forcing 44 turnovers.

Oklahoma's Danielle Robinson tallied three points, three rebounds, three assists and four steals in her 20 minutes.

“It was our first international game,” Robinson said. “For some of us it's our first experience and we didn't really know what to expect. We'll come out and learn from this game. It wasn't as competitive as the boys' (exhibition) games were, but it definitely helped us and it'll make us better.”

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Box Score

Team USA led 35-7 after the first quarter and 56-15 at halftime, allowing USA head coach Charli Turner Thorne to balance the minutes among her roster.

Connecticut's Tina Charles led five Team USA player in double-digit scoring with 18 points. Ohio State's Jantel Lavender scored the lone double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds.

"We wanted to focus on outworking teams, outrebounding teams significantly, which we did, and taking care of the ball," Turner Thorne said. "We wanted to be more patient on offense. I thought we did well in all of those areas.

"I was very pleased with our 3-point shooting and our field goal percentage in general, but I still want us to slice and dice a little more against zones."

Team USA made seven of its nine 3-point attempts and assisted 20 of its 37 field goals while taking advantage of gaps in France's zone defense. The U.S. held a 48-21 rebounding advantage.

“We know that we have 3-point shooters,” Robinson said. “We challenge people to play zone against us. I think we definitely showed what we're capable of doing against a zone.”

Team USA continues pool play Thursday against Great Britain, who defeated Serbia 76-67.

“Playing with the elite programs that we play with,” Robinson added, “we've all experienced games like this. It really wasn't that challenging. With all of us being elite athletes, all of us combining and playing together, it definitely helped. It kept us focused.”

In Group B, Australia defeated Japan, 112-69, and Slovakia beat Canada, 85-79.

In Group C, Russia routed Mozambique, 105-52, and Taiwan outlasted Hungary, 73-64.

In Group D, the Czech Republic stomped Turkey, 107-55, and Poland defeated China, 83-73.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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