USA/FRA - France to face fired-up USA in Last Eight

PUERTO MONTT (2011 FIBA U19 World Championship for Women) - British playwright William Congreve once said “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.”

If it is true, France has an enormous challenge on their hands when they face the USA in the Quarter-Finals of the FIBA U19 World Championship for Women in Puerto Montt, Chile.


The USA lost to Canada in their last game of the Eighth-Final round, the first time a US team has lost to their North American rivals in a world championship of any kind since 1975. The three-time defending champs will be smarting at the defeat, and coach Jennifer Rizzotti is blunt about what needs to happen for her team to bounce back.

“It’s about having the mental toughness to focus when it matters the most, not just being able to hit a shot when we are up by 20,” she said following Wednesday's 64-52 loss.

“They’re disappointed, which they should be. None of these kids have ever lost a game in this kind of competition, now they know what it feels like and hopefully they will respond to that.”

Last year the USA went undefeated in taking gold at the FIBA U17 World Championship for Women and the FIBA U18 Americas Championship. To add another gold to the collection they must first beat France.

In contrast to their rivals, the French enter the Quarter-Finals on a high. After losing to Australia by 22 points in their second game of the tournament, the European bronze medallists have defeated Spain by two points, Brazil by 12 and Chinese Taipei by 17.

Coach Jerome Fournier is looking forward to the match-up with the powerful Americans. “Thank you Canada!” he said with a laugh. “It will be difficult, but I told you I love this game because everyday is a surprise.”

During France’s three-game winning streak, small forward Adja Konteh has averaged 12.3 ppg and 4.7 rpg and proved almost impossible to stop from getting into the lane. Fournier thinks Konteh, along with the likes of Valeriane Ayayi (12 ppg, 4.6 rpg) (pictured) and Clarince Djaldi-Tabdi give his team the athleticism to counter that of the USA.

“In the French team there are good athletes, and the match-up with our good athletes and the USA’s good athletes will be interesting,” he said.

For the defending champions, Bria Hartley has been outstanding all over the court, averaging 11 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals per game. Her least effective game was, not surprisingly, in the loss to Canada. “On a night when Bria Hartley really struggled we didn’t have another kid step up,” Rizzotti said.

“I think it’ll make a difference,” she added about the loss. “Hopefully in a positive way, wakes the kids up a bit and proves to them that this isn’t like the last two years when they were playing against kids.”

Inside the key, Breanna Stewart has been superb with nearly 12 ppg and more than 6 rpg, and her battle with the strong French frontline will be crucial, but Rizzotti said it comes down to every one of her players performing on the day.

“There’s no easy games left, everybody’s playing for the chance to win a gold medal,” she said. “Nobody’s going to be subbing, they’re going to have their best players out there and were going to have to fight for everything that we get.”

The final word though, goes to the passionate Fournier. “It’s a big surprise,” he said of Canada’s win over the USA. “But this is some good news for our team now playing the US, because we know it is possible to beat them, and I love this game because it is possible!”

Paulo Kennedy

FIBA