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USA Pan American Team Falls, 84-62, To Cuba
Aug. 2, 2003
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (August 2, 2003) -- Things looked awfully good for the USA Women's Pan American Games Team (0-1) Saturday morning in the first half as the Americans enjoyed a 46-32 lead over defending Pan American Games champ Cuba (2-0) at halftime, then the bottom fell out. Cuba outscored the USA 24-7 in the third quarter and went on to post the 84-62 win. Ann Strother (Connecticut / Castle Rock, Colo.) and Laurie Koehn (Kansas State / Hesston, Kan.) each scored 11 points to lead the American squad.
Strother pushed the USA to the front by scoring all of her points during a 21-12 USA run that spanned the first quarter break, giving the Americans a 33-20 lead with 6:10 left in the first half. She received scoring support from Koehn, who tossed in a trio of 3-pointers, one short of the USA single-game Pan Am Games record.
The Cubans began to find their game in the latter part of the second quarter, playing virtually even with the USA during the last six minutes to go into the locker room trailing 46-32. The Americans hit 50.0 percent of their first-half field goal attempts and 46.0 percent from 3-point range, while Cuba only made 36.0 percent from the field.
But the USA gave back its advantage by coming out flat in the second half, going scoreless in the first 6:10 of the third quarter while Cuba was hitting virtually everything it put up. Powered by Yuliseni Soria, who scored seven of her 14 points during a 15-0 Cuban run to start the second half, Cuba took the lead with 4:20 left in the third on a left-handed baby hook shot in the paint by Oyanaisis Gelis.
The USA answered with its first points of the half on a put-back by Janel McCarville (Minnesota / Stevens Point, Wis.) with 3:50 left in the period. It was the last lead the USA would enjoy. Liset Castillo tied the score with a free throw at 3:09 and Milaisis Duany scored a transition basket on a feed from Soria with 2:42 left in the third to make the score 50-48 on the way to a 56-53 score at the end of three quarters.
"We were not getting the same shots in the second half, and we started forcing things," said USA head coach Debbie Ryan (University of Virginia). "We just did not do a good job defensively from the free throw line down. We gave them way too many second opportunities.
"I told the team I was disappointed with their effort in the second half," Ryan added. "They pressured us and we didn't handle it well. Defensive rebounding and missed free throws really hurt us. They got after us defensively and we did not respond."
Cuba came out hot again in the fourth quarter, reeling off the first eight points before Barbara Turner (Connecticut / Cleveland, Ohio) found the range from 20 feet to make the score 64-55 with 7:11 remaining. A 20-7 run closed out the game for Cuba. The USA hit only 16.7 percent of its field goal attempts in the second half, going 4-for-24, while Cuba made 18-of-29 (62.0 percent) in the final 20 minutes.
Cuba's Yakelin Plutin led all scorers with 18 points. Four other Cubans reached double figures: Martinez with 17, Soria with 14 and Gelis and Suchitel Avila with 10 each. The USA's Rebekkah Brunson (Georgetown / Oxon Hill, Md.) led all rebounders with nine as the Americans won the battle of the boards, 34-28.
The USA's next game will be Sunday morning against Canada at 11 a.m. ET.
Ryan is being assisted on the sidelines by Indiana University's Kathi Bennett and University at Albany's (N.Y.) Trina Patterson.
The USA Basketball Pan American Games Team opened its training on July 17. The 2003 Pan American Games women's basketball competition is geing held Aug. 2-9 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
2003 Pan American Games USA Basketball Women's Notes and Quotes
USA v. Cuba, Aug. 2, 2003
USA head coach Debbie Ryan (University of Virginia) on what she said to the players after the game:
"I told the team I was disappointed with their effort in the second half. They pressured us and we didnt handle it well. Defensive rebounding and missed free throws really hurt us. They got after us defensively and we did not respond."
Regarding the second half:
"We were not getting the same shots in the second half, and we started forcing things. We just did not do a good job defensively from the free throw line down. We gave them way too many second opportunities."
Nicole Powell (Stanford )
"We came out sharp, intense and focused in the first half, but we came out with no energy in the second half. Things heated up and got physical, and we did not match their intensity. We must play harder from start to finish."
Team USA Notes
Changing Games
The USA came out hot in the first half, hitting 50.0 percent of its field goal attempts (17-34), including 6-13 from 3-point range. The second half saw a much different story, as the Americans hit only 4-of-24 attempts in the second half (16.7 percent) and missed all 14 3-point shots they attempted. On the other hand, Cuba went from famine to feast from the floor. After an 11-30 (36.7 percent) performance in the first half, including 2-for-8 (25.0 percent) from 3-point range, the Cubans starting dialing in, hitting 18-of-29 attempts (62.1 percent) from the field and 5-of-7 tries (71.4 percent) from behind the 3-point line (some as much as five feet behind the arc).
Record Effort
The 27 3-point attempts the USA launched against Cuba nearly doubled the old USA single-game record of 14, which was set against Cuba on Aug. 10, 1991, in Havana. The USA put that many up from behind the arc in the second half alone, but found no joy, missing all 14 3-point attempts in the final 20 minutes.
Board Woes
While the USA won the rebounding battle, 34-28, the difference in the second half illustrated the frustration the Americans had getting their shots to fall. In the last two quarters the USA pulled in a total of 15 boards, with 10 coming on the offensive end. Meanwhile, they gathered only five on the defensive half while Cuba's offensive total went from four in the first half to five in the second.
Turnover Troubles
Taking care of the ball became problematic for the USA in the second half. As Cuba stepped up its pressure, the Americans found it difficult to maintain possession, committing 12 turnovers in the final 20 minutes. Two of those were shot clock violations, as the Cubans stepped up their defensive pressure.
