USA and Russia win: FIBA U-19 World Championship for Women July 21 Roundup (Part 2)
USA 85 – Japan 63
In the first game of the Group-B, USA used a dominating first half to defeat Japan 85-63. USA subjugated the Japanese squad from the floor, converting 53.7 percent field goal attempts as opposed to Japan’s 28.4 percent.
Bria Hartley marshalled USA with 18 points, four assists, four steals and three rebounds. Hartley went 7 of 12 from the field including three of four from the three-point range. Breanna Stewart and Stefanie Dolson also tallied 13 points each for USA.
For Japan, Sanae Motokawa led all scorers with her 20 points and six rebounds. Motokawa was 100 percent from the free throw line and shot 80 percent from beyond the arc. Chikae Uchino also added 15 points for Japan.
USA took their time to gather the momentum, but did not look back once they gained it. After some nervy minutes at the start, USA ensured a 25-17 lead when the first quarter ended.
Things did not change much in the second period as the Americans kept on drilling into the weak defence of Japanese and produced almost a replica of the first period. By the time, the teams went into the locker rooms; USA carried a 48-31 advantage.
Although, Japan reduced the lead by four in the third, but that was the closest they got all night as USA successfully seized the game in their favour by a 22-point margin.
Preliminary Round: Russia 70 – Argentina 51
Russia claimed their first victory of the tournament by defeating Argentina 70-51 in the second game of the Group-B.
Russia’s Yulia Poluyanova finished as the top scorer of the game. She racked up a game-high 21 points along with five rebounds, two assists and two steals in nearly 28 minutes of action. Yulia shot 87.5 perecent from the field and was perfect from the three-point and the free throw range. Ksenia Tikhonenko also made a double-double for Russia with 18 points and10 rebounds.
Russia displayed a good all round game. Their offense shot 42.9 percent from the field and 68.2 percent from charity stripe. Argentina on the other hand, slipped in 30.5 percent from the field and 47.8 percent from the free throw line.
Melisa Gretter led the Argentineans with 17 points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals while Rocio Diaz scored13 points together with two steals and one rebound.
The Russians had a solid start and after the first 10 minutes, they led Argentina by14-7. Russia then erupted in the second and scorched South Americans with a 23-10 blitz to race to a 37-17 lead at halftime.
Argentina responded after the break. They choked the Russian offence and made it a six point game, by the time, the frame ended. After a third quarter stumble, the Russians found their groove in the fourth again and outscored Argentina 24-11 to walk away with the win.
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