USA/RUS - USA too tall an order for ice cold Russia

RODEZ (FIBA Championnat du monde -17 ans) - The USA pulled away late in the second quarter and rolled to an 82-38 win over Russia in a highly-anticipated game at the Amphitheatre in Rodez.

The game was close early on, with the USA leading 15-12 thanks in large part to their work on the offensive glass (10 rebounds in the first quarter).

The Russians were ice cold on the day and couldn’t get anything going offensively, shooting 11 of 70 from the field.

The Americans, meanwhile, turned to their strength, feeding the ball to their inside players who scored time and time again.

They outscored their opponents 26-14 in the second period for a 41-26 lead at halftime.

Russia’s shooting woes got worse after the break as they scored only 12 points over the last two quarters and none of their players scored in double-digits.

Elizabeth Williams had 20 points and 14 rebounds to pace the USA.

Quotes

Barbara Nelson (USA head coach): "We really controlled the tempo of the game by forcing them to play as we wanted. We played our style with confidence. When we played tough on offense, our defense followed. When we played hard on defense, our offense benefited from it. Today, we managed both (offense and defense)." 

Anna Arkhipova-Von Kalmanovich (Russia head coach): The USA are always hard to beat. They are the school of basketball with the best physical and strongest players. Today was very difficult. Thanks for this lesson of basketball."

FIBA/LOC