Texas Tech University Athletics
USA Basketball Defeats Poland 89-63
August 15, 2005 | Women's Basketball
Aug. 15, 2005
IZMIR, Turkey - The 2005 USA Women's World University Games Team came back from a one-point deficit midway through the third quarter with an 11-1 run to take control of the game and earn a hard-fought win over Poland on Monday. With the win, the Americans improve to 4-0 and take the top spot in Group B. They will face Taiwan in the quarterfinals on Tuesday, Aug. 16. at 10:30 a.m.
Poland stayed close for most of the game and never trailed by less then nine points until the fourth quarter. However, the U.S. outscored Poland 51-28 in the second half and posted a plus-23 rebounding margin to gain control late in the third quarter and never looked back.
"We were tight and we hadn't seen a zone," said USA and Harvard University (Mass.) head coach Kathy Delaney-Smith. "Credit Poland for throwing a zone at us, I guess it was a special zone. Now, I think we're prepared for zones but it took us about two and a half quarters to get used to it. Hopefully that won't happen the next time."
Entering the second half with a three-point advantage, the U.S. gave up a free throw and a 3-pointer to Joanna Czarnecka with 9:00 left in the third frame to give Poland a 39-38 lead, its first since the first quarter. Layups by Cappie Pondexter (Rutgers / Chicago, Ill.) and Sylvia Fowles (LSU / Miami, Fla.) within a 10-second span allowed the Americans to regain the lead, 42-39, with 8:09 left in the third.
After trading baskets, a Poland layup at the 6:00 mark in the third quarter gave the Polish a slim 45-44 advantage. However, Seimone Augustus (LSU / Baton Rouge, La.) connected on a jumper at the 5:17 mark to give the Americans a 46-45 lead they never relinquished.
The U.S. advantage grew to four after Megan Duffy nabbed a steal and made a breakaway layup and the ensuing free throw 21 seconds later. Duffy found Augustus on consecutive possessions to bring the American lead to 55-46 with 2:50 left in the third stanza. Poland decreased its deficit to five on a basket from Magdalena Leciejewska with 30 seconds remaining but Lisa Willis (UCLA / Long Beach, Calif.) answered with a 3-pointer to give the Americans a 60-52 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
The USA's late third quarter run carried over into the final frame, as the Americans scored the first 14 points of the fourth and outscored Poland 29-9 in the quarter.
"Poland is a great team," said Duffy. "They caught us back on our heels a little bit in the first half. The minute we made a mistake they took advantage of it. In the second half we settled down and played our basketball."
Neither team was able to take control early, as Poland stayed within striking distance of the U.S. in the first quarter. A layup from Duffy off a Pondexter feed gave the Americans a 12-4 advantage with 7:17 left in the first. After trading baskets, Poland ran-off a 9-0 run after Natalia Waligorska hit a layup to give the Polish a 15-14 lead with 2:49 to play in the first. The U.S. responded with a 6-0 run of its own, including four points from Monique Currie (Duke / Washington, D.C.) with 28.7 left for a 20-17 lead. However, Waligorska made a basket and was fouled with 10.6 remaining. She missed the free throw but grabbed her own offensive rebound and made a 3-pointer with two seconds left to knot the score at 20-20 after one frame.
With a one-point American lead, 26-25, with 4:30 left in the half, Jessica Davenport scored five points in a 8-0 U.S. run that brought the score to 34-25 at the 2:45 mark. Poland chipped away at the nine-point lead and got within three, 36-33, after Alexsandra Chomac made a three-point play with 59.4 remaining. Fowles hit a layup with 15 seconds left in the half but Poland responded with a Chomac layup with two seconds on the clock as the half ended with a 38-35 U.S. lead.
"I thought Chomac was pretty dangerous and I'm please what we did with her," said Delaney-Smith. "I think Poland is very well coached, very smart and read our defensive errors. It didn't matter who it was, they capitalized on them."
"It really started with our perimeter players," said Fowles. "They deserve a lot of credit because they had pressure on the ball from the outside. We just had to come out in the second half and play our game and play hard. Once we got that into our heads, we were okay."
Duffy led all scorers with 13 points and also posted seven rebounds, six assists and three steals. Fowles grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds to go along with eight points and three blocks. Joining Duffy in double figures for the U.S. were Augustus with 12 and Davenport and Willis with 11 apiece. Augustus also dished out five assists on the day.
Poland was paced by Chomac's 12 points. Marta Dydek notched 11 points, Magdalena Radwan scored 10 and Waligorska handed out five assists.
Courtesy of USA Basketball - for a complete box score, log onto www.usabasketball.com
