University of Tennessee Athletics
World Cup Play Ends With Win For Suárez
August 15, 2021 | Women's Basketball
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – After suffering setbacks in their past two games, Tennessee standout Marta Suárez and Spain closed their participation at the 2021 FIBA U19 Women's Basketball World Cup in Debrecen (DEB-ret-sin), Hungary, with a 60-51 victory over Russia at Hodos Imre Sports Hall on Sunday morning.
Spain concluded play with a 4-3 record in the tournament, advancing to the quarterfinal round before falling to the USA on Friday. After dropping a nail-biter to the Czech Republic in consolation bracket action on Saturday, the Spaniards were able to end things on a positive note and card a seventh-place finish in the global event.
Suárez was back in the starting line up on Sunday for the sixth time in seven games, contributing four points, five rebounds, two steals and an assist in 13 minutes of duty. Making the team and seeing action in this event were especially valuable developments for the UT rising sophomore, whose 2020-21 season on Rocky Top was hampered and eventually cut short due to injury. She started the first 13 games for the Lady Vols and made the SEC All-Freshman Team a year ago despite the physical limitations that began to plague her midway through the schedule.
Spain took charge from the get-go against Russia, pushing out to a 21-14 lead after the opening 10 minutes. Suárez had a hand in her team's first two scores, getting a steal and later finding an open teammate for a lay-up in the squad's first offensive set. Her rebound on defense the next trip down the floor gave the Spaniards possession, and they took advantage by netting a three-pointer to go up 5-0 in the midst of a seven-point game-opening run.
A 14-11 second-quarter result extended that lead to 10, 35-25, at the half. After Russia took the third quarter by a 12-9 count to cut the score to 44-37, Spain put up 16 points to the Russians' 14 in the final period to seal the deal.
In seven contests at the FIBA U19 World Cup, Suárez averaged 17.1 minutes of play and contributed 6.7 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.3 steals per outing for a very balanced Spain roster.
Spain concluded play with a 4-3 record in the tournament, advancing to the quarterfinal round before falling to the USA on Friday. After dropping a nail-biter to the Czech Republic in consolation bracket action on Saturday, the Spaniards were able to end things on a positive note and card a seventh-place finish in the global event.
Suárez was back in the starting line up on Sunday for the sixth time in seven games, contributing four points, five rebounds, two steals and an assist in 13 minutes of duty. Making the team and seeing action in this event were especially valuable developments for the UT rising sophomore, whose 2020-21 season on Rocky Top was hampered and eventually cut short due to injury. She started the first 13 games for the Lady Vols and made the SEC All-Freshman Team a year ago despite the physical limitations that began to plague her midway through the schedule.
Spain took charge from the get-go against Russia, pushing out to a 21-14 lead after the opening 10 minutes. Suárez had a hand in her team's first two scores, getting a steal and later finding an open teammate for a lay-up in the squad's first offensive set. Her rebound on defense the next trip down the floor gave the Spaniards possession, and they took advantage by netting a three-pointer to go up 5-0 in the midst of a seven-point game-opening run.
A 14-11 second-quarter result extended that lead to 10, 35-25, at the half. After Russia took the third quarter by a 12-9 count to cut the score to 44-37, Spain put up 16 points to the Russians' 14 in the final period to seal the deal.
In seven contests at the FIBA U19 World Cup, Suárez averaged 17.1 minutes of play and contributed 6.7 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.3 steals per outing for a very balanced Spain roster.
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