Weng’an, China – China (3-0) edged the NetScouts Basketball USA All-Stars (2-1) 70-66 before a partisan crowd of 3,632 to take the championship of the Weng’an part of the tour. 6-10 center Han Xu scored 13 points and grabbed 15 rebounds to lead the Chinese. Nicole Kornet kept the USA All-Stars in the game with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Kornet hit 4-of-11 three-pointers. Alisia Jenkins added 15 points and ten rebounds despite having her minutes limited due to a bout of tonsillitis.
The game was close throughout. China was up most of the first half by several points and finished the half with a 36-33 lead. Kornet’s 15 first-half points kept the USA close. The USA tied the game at 36 and neither team could take a lead of more than four points until the final few minutes. There were seven lead changes. The USA All-Stars led 61-60 with 2:52 lead before China reeled off eight straight points to take a 68-61 lead with 1:02 remaining. The Americans then scored, created a turnover and then Simone DeCoud hit a three-pointer to cut the China lead to 68-66 with 33 seconds left. China then missed their shot but grabbed the offensive rebound and scored to decide the game.
The Americans have had trouble shooting in all three games and tonight it cost them the game. The shot a combined 26-of-86 (30.2%) and made only 5-of-25 three-pointers. Outside of Kornet the team shot 1-of-14 from distance. They outrebounded the Chinese by ten and had a 26-10 edge on the offensive boards. China was able to overcome the rebounding deficit by out-shooting the USA from distance as they connected on 7-of-19 (37%). It wasn’t a great shooting effort but it was good enough to win this game. The Americans were also called for five more fouls and China attempted eight more free throws.
NetScouts Basketball USA All-Stars Head Coach Perry Huang “I thought our effort was much better tonight and we attacked the boards and took better care of the ball (15 turnovers). However, we need to start shooting better and get better looks. Sometimes we took too long to get into our offense and rushed shots at the end of the shot clock.”
In the first game Canada (1-2) topped Lithuania (0-3) 56-51 to take third place. Tomorrow is a travel days as the teams will take a high-speed train to the second city of Tongren. The games will continue on Tuesday night local time with the USA taking on Lithuania,
Watson, our All-Star interpreter and assistant manager
NetScouts Basketball USA All-Stars
Simone DeCoud (UC Riverside) 11 points, 6 assists, 6 rebounds, 4 steals
Leslie Lopez-Wood (LMU) 0 points, 1 rebound, 1 steal
Alisia Jenkins (South Florida/Spain) 15 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks, 2 steals
Kari Korver (UCLA) 0 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists
Ashley Clark (Tulsa/Finland) 7 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal
Nicole Kornet (UCLA) 19 points, 11 rebounds, 2 steals
Kiara Kudron (Gonzaga) 2 points, 4 rebounds
Brittany Crain (UC Riverside/Luxembourg) 6 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal
Shereen Sutherland (UC Irvine) 2 points, 3 rebounds
Rachel Mitchell (Texas A&M/Romania) 4 points, 4 rebounds
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
