CHN/USA - China give USA a real fright

PUERTO MONTT (2011 FIBA U19 World Championship for Women) - China gave the USA their first real scare at the FIBA U19 World Championship for Women in Chile on Monday and USA head coach Jennifer Rizzotti hopes that her team will be all the better for it.

Jiayi Zuo (pictured) scored a game-high 23 points as the Chinese rallied from a 13-point deficit in the fourth quarter to make a game of it thanks in large part to an impressive three-point barrage. They hit 11 of 22 attempts from beyond the arc.

The Americans closed out the game with timely buckets from Bria Hartley and Kaleena Lewis to take an 80-77 win and remain unbeaten through four games.

"You always kind of need a wake-up call when you're winning by a lot of points and you start to feel like  your team is getting complacent," Rizzotti said afterwards.

"So I guess this is a good wake-up call - I hope it is.

"I think our team needs to really remember what we're here for, take it seriously and get themselves ready to go and understand that we're going to get everybody's best shot."

The Chinese will take a lot of confidence from their performance, having pushed the three-time defending champions closer to their first defeat of the tournament than any other team.

"We didn't have a precise goal before the game, but we all hoped to play our best against the USA," Zuo explained after the game.

"We know that the USA are a better team than us so we were very relaxed about the game.

"The coach didn't say anything about winning before the game so everyone was relaxed and able to play their best."

As for the impact this game will have on her team going forward, Zuo was in no doubt that there were only positives.

"In the first two games, we didn't play our style but now we are playing better and better by the game," she added.

"This is a boost to our confidence to play the USA and come close to beating them."

Rizzotti was impressed but not surprised by Zuo's scoring prowess.

"I had heard about Zuo and she showed why she is such a good player today, she got into her comfort zone and did a great job," she said.

"She hadn't really been playing quite as much or making those kind of shots. We were more focused on Xi Yang because she is the one that has really been scoring for China.

"But we've seen it before where other teams are starting different players maybe to prevent themselves from getting into foul trouble or they're bringing a secret weapon off the bench."

The USA head coach offered more praise for China as a whole.

"I want to give China a lot of credit for the way they played," she added.

"They did such a great job of using screens, reading screens. Once they're hot they make sure to go back to the same player.

"This result will bolster their confidence and make them feel better about how they're playing.

"They came in and didn't play well in their first two games. Maybe beating Egypt and scoring a lot of points from the perimeter got them going.

"We knew all along that they were a good three-point shooting team and this was a time to witness that.

"They're probably disappointed in the loss and being so close but also feeling better about where they are as a team and their chances of moving forward."

As for her own team, Rizzotti saw a particular aspect of their game where progress still needs to be made.

"We're still learning how to be better defensively and how to guard talented offensive players like Japan and China have," she pointed out.

She praised Hartley for continuing to step up at both ends of the court.

"I'm still amazed at Bria's guts and her willingness to want to take the big shot, make the big play and at the other end to guard the other team's best player."

One area Rizzotti hopes her team improves on is finishing around the basket - and for good reason.

"I was disappointed in the way we played around the basket. It would not have been as close a game as it was if we had made the 10 or 12 lay-ups we missed in the first half," she pointed out.

"We have to understand the urgency of every possession."

FIBA