Weng’an, China – The NetScouts Basketball USA All-Stars used a strong third quarter to pull away from a determined Lithuania team 75-68 on Saturday night in Weng’an. Kiara Kudron (16 points, 13 rebounds) and Alisia Jenkins (18 points, 7 rebounds) led the surge to help the Americans to the win. 6-2 Laura Juskiate had her second solid game in two nights leading Lithuania with 24 points and ten rebounds.
Lithuania started off the game strongly, taking a 22-17 advantage after the first quarter and then pulled out to a 10-point lead midway into the second quarter. The USA All-Stars then closed the half on a 10-2 run and took a 38-37 lead on a Simone DeCoud jumper just before intermission. The Americans continued their run with a 22-11 edge in the third quarter as they took a 60-48 lead into the final stanza. The USA expanded the lead to 16 points before Lithuania used a late surge to cut the final margin down to seven points.
The Americans improved their shooting tonight to 38 percent for the game but still only shot 6-of-21 (28%) from distance. They did not take good care of the ball, particularly in the first half when they committed 16 of their 24 turnovers and helped Lithuania stay in the game. Rebounding and the inside play of Kudron and Jenkins was the difference as the USA held a +12 rebounding advantage including a +9 advantage on the offensive boards. Nine of Kudron’s game-high 13 rebounds came on the offensive end. The USA had only 11 assists against their 24 turnovers which usually isn’t a recipe for a win.
Nicole Kornet (10 points) shot the ball well tonight (4-of-6) with one three-pointer. Ashley Clark played excellent defense throughout the game. DeCoud was solid again running the offense in her game-high 31 minutes of action. Kari Korver made two three-pointers and grabbed six rebounds from her guard spot and Shereen Sutherland gave the team solid minutes inside.
NetScouts Basketball USA All-Stars Head Coach Perry Huang “I thought our offense was much better tonight but we need to take care of the ball much better to have any chance of defeating China tomorrow. We also need to play with more energy at the start of the game. I was really happy with the board work and effort of Kiara and Alisia. They really gave their all to grab every rebound.”
China continued to impress in topping Canada 81-51 in the opener. China and the USA will face off tomorrow night for the title in Weng’an and the Weng’an Rural Commercial Bank Cup. A standing room only crowd is expected.
NetScouts Basketball USA All-Stars
Simone DeCoud (UC Riverside) 9 points, 5 assists, 3 rebounds, 4 steals, 1 block
Leslie Lopez-Wood (LMU) 0 points, 1 rebound, 1 steal
Alisia Jenkins (South Florida/Spain) 18 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block
Kari Korver (UCLA) 6 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals
Ashley Clark (Tulsa/Finland) 5 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals
Nicole Kornet (UCLA) 10 points, 4 rebounds, 1 block, 3 steals
Kiara Kudron (Gonzaga) 16 points, 13 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals
Brittany Crain (UC Riverside/Luxembourg) 3 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist
Shereen Sutherland (UC Irvine) 8 points, 5 rebounds, 1 block, 1 steal
Rachel Mitchell (Texas A&M/Romania) 0 points, 1 rebound
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