Weng’an, China – Brittany Crain scored 16 points to lead the NetScouts Basketball USA All-Stars to a 64-53 win over Canada in front of 3,841 fans in Weng’an in the opening game of a nine-game China tour. Alisia Jenkins added 11 points and eight rebounds while point guard Simone DeCoud contributed seven assists and five steals against only one turnover. Kyanna Pingue-Giles led Canada with 19 points and 11 rebounds.
The USA All-Stars took an early 19-9 lead before the Canadians battled back to take a 26-25 lead just before halftime. Crain then hit a three-pointer to give the Americans a 28-26 lead into halftime. The Americans then outscored Canada 21-12 in the third quarter to help put the game out of reach. The USA extended the lead to 16 midway in the fourth quarter and then coasted to the win.
It was the first game the Americans played together and it showed. The USA All-Stars took 21 more shots than Canada but shot only 26-for-82 (31.7%) from the field. They did make nine three-pointers (9-of-27) with Crain drilling three and Kari Korver and Leslie Lopez-Wood two each. The Canadians had a +8 edge on the boards but that was mainly the result of the USA missing 15 more shots than Canada. The USA came up with 19 steals and forced Canada into 22 turnovers.
Rachel Mitchell was impressive defensively for the USA coming up with four early blocks and Kiara Kudron (7 rebounds) came up big in the second half with some strong rebounding. Crain also grabbed seven boards and was very active in her time on the court.
NetScouts Basketball USA All-Stars Head Coach Perry Huang “I thought this was a good effort for the first time we’ve played together. We didn’t hit our shots but I thought we played good defense most of the time in the second half and started to rebound better. We’ll look for improvement in tonight’s game.”
China dominated in the opener as they destroyed Lithuania 89-46. Six Chinese players scored in double-figures and they out-rebounded Lithuania by 15. China faces Canada in the first game tonight while the USA faces Lithuania in the nightcap.
NetScouts Basketball USA All-Stars
Simone DeCoud (UC Riverside) 2 points, 7 assists, 2 rebounds, 5 steals, 1 block
Leslie Lopez-Wood (LMU) 6 points, 2 rebounds, 3 steals
Alisia Jenkins (South Florida/Spain) 11 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal
Kari Korver (UCLA) 8 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block
Ashley Clark (Tulsa/Finland) 4 points, 5 rebounds 1 steal
Nicole Kornet (UCLA) 3 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals
Kiara Kudron (Gonzaga) 4 points, 7 rebounds, 1 steal
Brittany Crain (UC Riverside/Luxembourg) 16 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals
Shereen Sutherland (UC Irvine) 8 points, 3 rebounds
Rachel Mitchell (Texas A&M/Romania) 2 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 4 blocks
Information on NetScouts Basketball can be obtained here. Detailed articles on the tour will be found on the NetScouts Basketball Blog. Email carl@netscoutbasketball.com to get on the mailing list for tour related articles, information and photos
