University of Tennessee Athletics
Parker Leads USA To Victory
September 26, 2007 | Women's Basketball
Box Score
Valdivia, Chile -- In a back and forth battle for most of the evening, the USA Basketball Women???s Senior National Team (1-0) needed all four quarters to finish with an 85-79 victory over Cuba (0-1) to open play at the 2007 FIBA Americas Championship on Wednesday afternoon in Valdivia, Chile. Candace Parker (University of Tennessee) scored a team-high 21 points. Diana Taurasi (Phoenix Mercury) contributed 16, while Katie Smith (Detroit Shock) and Tina Thompson (Houston Comets) each notched 13 points. Sue Bird (Seattle Storm) had a hand in many of those points after dishing out nine assists.
The U.S., which takes on Jamaica (0-1) Thursday in a 1:30 p.m. (EDT) game that will be televised live by NBA TV, must win the gold medal at the eight-team tournament in order to secure a slot in the 2008 Olympic women???s basketball tournament.
After the game, Parker shared her thoughts:
???Cuba came out really high and it was a tough game for us. But a win is a win. We fought back, we had people knock down big shots and make great defensive plays when we needed it.???
Nobody ever seemed to lose their composure, despite all the missed layups:
???I think we realized that we???re in it together and everybody???s going to have days where you struggle. We just kept fighting and that???s why we came back and won.???
How difficult is it to face a team that you haven???t seen before?
???It was tough, but our coaching staff got us ready to play, we just needed to come out a little bit stronger. We didn???t, but we regrouped and pulled it out.???
How big were those two threes by Katie Smith late in the game?
???Huge. They were huge. We really needed her to hit them and she knocked them down.???
"I think it was a great win for us. Cuba is a great team and we???ve known that for a long time. They???re very solid," said USA and Seattle Storm head coach Anne Donovan. "The difference between this game and games in the past is that we???ve come out strong and shot the ball real well in the first quarter to make them lose their confidence in themselves. Tonight that wasn???t the case and they kept their confidence throughout the game. I have to hand it to Cuba, they played a great game. You could see how well they play together. And then give credit to us for pulling that nice win out with good execution in the fourth quarter."
Facing an athletic and well organized Cuban squad, the USA???s short preparation time together became evident early on as the islanders kept pace with the North Americans through most of the game and with a little over four minutes to play the game was deadlocked at 71-71.
Eyeing a zone defense Bird drove to the hoop, bringing defenders with her and kicked it out to Smith who nailed a 3-pointer from the left side. Following a Cuban turnover Bird and Smith combined for a nearly identical play -- this time Smith was beyond the arc in the middle of the court -- and with 3:41 remaining the USA was up 77-71.
"I???m glad I could do my part," said Smith. "It gave us a little energy when it was needed, but I got some good picks from my teammates in that zone, Sue got me the ball and I???m just glad I was able to contribute and do my part. It kind of got us on a little bit of a roll, gave us a little bit of a cushion in the home stretch. Then everyone else helped take it home."
Cuba National Team veteran Yayma Boulet was able to wedge a bucket into what became an 11-2 run that saw Parker cap it with a leaning layup at 2:06, giving the United Sates an 82-73 advantage.
The red, white and blue kept up its intensity and closed out the night with the win.
"I???m really pleased with how composed we were," said Donovan. "Down the stretch you???ve got Katie (Smith), who has great experience, Sue???s (Bird) got good experience, you have Candace Parker who is 20-years-old in the post, Becky Brunson who has no international experience with this team playing in the post also. And then Seimone Augustus has some experience playing with the national team, but not a lot of floor experience. So that last crew I thought finished that game off very well and I???m really pleased with where we are right now."
In addition to the scoring contributions by Parker, Smith, Taurasi and Thompson, DeLisha Milton-Jones (Washington Mystics) and Thompson grabbed six boards apiece and Bird was credited with four steals. The USA, which shot a respectable 44.4 percent (8-18 3pt FGs) from beyond the arc, was outrebounded 42-37 by Cuba.
