Jiujiang, China – Although both teams struggled shooting, the NetScouts Basketball USA All-Stars beat Australia 60-38 behind 10 points and 7 rebounds from Oregon’s Ariel Thomas.
The American team played solid team defense, especially early on, forcing 15 first half turnovers, holding Australia to just three FG’s and built a strong 33-8 lead at the half over the Aussies.
The second half was a different story. Australia competed very hard and played good defense and won the third period of play 16-13. They were led by Tahlia Tupaea who posted 15 points on the night. Australia played short-handed as two of their better players, Alexandra Sharp and Maddison Rocci sat out with injuries.
“I thought our pressure was good tonight, especially early, but once we got the lead we started getting a bit careless with the ball and didn’t finish shots that we’ve been making most of the trip. You have to credit the Aussies though, they play very hard and physical on defense and they made it hard for us to score and for the most part it was an even game on the boards, USA Coach Chris Denker said.”
Amy Kame (3), Deja Mann (2), and Arielle Wideman (2) had seven steals as a unit which jump started the USA transition game allowing some easy baskets. In all, the Americans had 15 steals and forced 25 turnovers.
Team Slovenia
“We’ll need to play good defense again tomorrow night (against China) and shoot better than 28 percent or we’ll have a hard time winning.” Coach Denker added.
The Americans are 8-0 on the trip and 5-0 in this event with their final game against China tomorrow night. China beat Slovenia tonight to move to 3-2 while Australia drops to 2-3 and Slovenia is 0-5. Australia and Slovenia play in game one on Thursday.
The USA’s post play has been outstanding all trip but tonight they just didn’t have it and seemed tired. The same with their perimeter shooting. With some rest tonight hopefully the team will get their legs back and come out clicking on all cylinders tomorrow night against China.
NetScouts Basketball USA All-Stars (60)
Ariel Thomas (Oregon) 10 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist
Deja Mann (Arizona State) 5 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists, 2 steals
Arielle Wideman (Nevada) 8 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals
Amy Kame (San Diego) 3 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals, 1 block
Joy Burke (Arizona State) 8 points, 4 rebounds, 1 block
Alisha Filmore (SMU) 5 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist
Camille Buckley (UC-Irvine) 2 points, 6 rebounds
Amber Moore (Illinois) 8 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist
Tabitha Gerardot (Indiana) 3 points
Molly Schlemer (Cal Poly) 8 points, 8 rebounds
Team Australia
Australia (38)
(#4) Maddison Rocci: DNP
(#5) Jasmine Forcadilla: 5 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists, 1 block
(#6) Morgan Yaeger: 0 points, 1 rebound
(#7) Taylor Ortlepp: 5 points, 3 rebounds, 1assist
(#8) Madeline Dennis: 2 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist
(#9) Bridget O’Brien: 3 points , 8 rebounds, 1 assist
(#10) Anneli Maley: 0 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist
(#11) Georgia Pineau: 2 points, 5 rebounds, 1 block, 2 steals
(#12) Alexandra Sharp: DNP
(#13) Bride Kennedy-Hopoate: 4 points
(#14) Danijela Milisic: 2 points, 3 rebounds
(#15) Tahlia Tupaea: 15 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 steal
You can subscribe to our RSS feed from the upper right corner of our home page, follow us on Facebook, or on twitter.
Any international players interested in coming to the USA to play in college, prep school or high school can contact us here. We are looking for interns and sales associates. If you’re interested contact us and forward your resume.
Happy for all the successes of the USA team! Recently had a new grandson, so no time to comment. As always, equally happy for Molly Schlemer from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo!!
Marsha Steinfield