USA marches on to semifinals

The USA fell behind France by eight points in the first half of their quarterfinal game, then rallied to defeat them 88-75. As Nneka put it, "We tied it up and busted it out in the third and fourth quarters."

Nneka shared top scoring honors (16 points) with Skylar Diggins. She was one rebound short of another double-double.

Here is the game report, box score, quotes and photos (later today) from USA Basketball, complete statistics from FIBA and game report with photos from FIBA.

The big news of the day at the tournament was Canada's 50-49 upset of Australia. The Canadian U19 team had never advanced as far as the quarterfinals before, and Australia was undefeated and ranked #1. The USA has less than a day to prepare for this unexpected semifinal opponent, but the two teams met earlier in the second round.

The USA team took time after practice yesterday for a tour of Bangkok. Here is a photo gallery.

Jayne, Kayla and Jeanette on Wade Trophy watch list

Congratulations to Jayne, Kayla and Jeanette!

They are three of the 25 women on the State Farm Wade Trophy Division I Player of the Year preseason "Wade Watch" list that was announced today by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association. This is Jayne's third time on the list, Kayla's second and Jeanette's first. Read more...

USA's 3-pointers eclipse Japan

The USA U19 team was on fire from 3-point land in their game against Japan yesterday. They hit 52% of them for 57 points. That and their superior defense led to a 109-68 victory.

As usual, the USA effort was a balanced one, with everyone playing, scoring (six in double digits) and rebounding (even little Sammy Prahalis). Nneka played just 16 minutes and tallied seven points, five rebounds and two steals.

Here is the game report, box score, quotes and photos from USA Basketball and the game report, box score and photos from FIBA.

The victory takes the USA into the quarter-finals as the #3 seed with a 5-1 record. The top two teams are Australia and Spain — both undefeated. Australia is #1 because they have a greater scoring differential ( 155) than Spain (116). Although it doesn't affect the seeding, it's interesting that the USA has a greater scoring differential (167) than either of them, and no other team in the tournament is even close to those three. If you're interested in statistics, you can find more on the FIBA website in Standings and in Player Leaders.

The USA's first quarter-final game is against France (#7) on Friday at 1:15 a.m. Pacific time. If they win that game, they'll play the winner of the Australia (#1)/Canada (#6) game on Saturday at 3:30 a.m. The gold medal game is on Sunday at 4:00 a.m.

Nneka leads USA to win over Russia

Nneka posted her third double-double in five games to lead the USA past Russia 75-56 in FIBA U19 World Championship second round action.

Russia came into the game as one of the four undefeated teams in the tournament. They went on a 13-4 run to a one-point lead in the third quarter. But the USA stepped up their defense and dominated Russia 20-6 in the final quarter to seal the win.

Nneka scored eight of her game-high 12 points and grabbed seven of her game-high 13 rebounds in the fourth quarter. She also had two assists, two steals and a blocked shot in the game.

Here is the game report, box score, quotes and photos (later today) from USA Basketball and the game report, box score and photos from FIBA.

The USA (4-1) play Japan (2-3) tomorrow in their final second round game. It's the first game of the day, at 11:00 pm today Pacific Time. You can follow it live on the FIBA website.

USA clips Canada

The USA pulled away from Canada with a 15-2 run at the end of the first quarter and went on to win 64-50 today in the second round of the 2009 FIBA U19 World Championship.

Nneka had 11 points and the team-high 12 rebounds for her second double-double of the tournament — and a block and three steals. She is one of five players in the tournament with two double-doubles, is third in rebounds per game (9.5), sixth in points per game (13.3) and second in 2-point field goal percentage (57.9).

Here is the game report, box score and quotes from USA Basketball and the game report, box score and photos from FIBA.

The USA will play what promises to be a tough game tomorrow against Russia, which is undefeated in the tournament. This is a head-to-head comparison of the two teams.

Jayne gears up for next season

Jack Salisbury, Stanford Daily Sports Editor, writes, "Expectations for Stanford women's basketball may be higher than ever with the team fresh off its second-straight Final Four appearance ... Jayne Appel will be one of, if not the most important, piece of the team if the Cardinal is to get back to the Final Four for a third consecutive year."

He sat down with Jayne recently for an interview that was published in the Stanford Weekly. Here is a link to the online edition. Click full screen and go to page 8 to read the interview.

USA crushes Mali

The USA defeated Mali by the greatest margin so far in the 2009 FIBA Women's U19 Championship — 100-38.

It was a very balanced attack by the USA. Five of the 11 players scored in double digits (Nneka had eight). All eleven of them had at least three rebounds (Nneka had four).

Here is the game report from FIBA with statistics and photos.

As always, here is a later, but more detailed, report from USA Basketball, with quotes from the team. There is no quote from Nneka today, but teammate Shenise Johnson said, "Overall we had a great team effort. I thought C, C’eira Ricketts, did a great job on defense. I thought Des (Destiny Williams) did a great job rebounding. Nneka (Ogwumike) always does well."

The USA's second-round schedule is:

• Monday: vs Canada (2-1) at 1:15 a.m. Pacific Time, head-to-head comparison
• Tuesday: vs Russia (3-0) at 1:15 a.m. Pacific Time, head-to-head comparison
• Wednesday: vs Japan (1-2) at 11:00 p.m. Pacific Time on Tuesday, head-to-head comparison

Nneka leads USA to victory over China

Nneka's big double-double led the USA to an 88-53 victory over China in their second game of the 2009 FIBA U19 World Championship.

She had game-high 18 points and 14 rebounds. She also figured out how international refs operate — she was called for just one foul in 26 minutes of play.

Here is the game report from FIBA, with statistics and photos.

Here is a more detailed game report from USA Basketball, with quotes from players. Nneka said, "We communicated, which is what I mentioned before that we needed to do. There was a lot of intensity and we didn’t let down."

The USA will play their last game of the preliminary round against Mali tomorrow at 5:45 a.m. Pacific Time. The standings in their group are: Spain 2-0, USA 1-1, China 1-1, Mali 0-2. After tomorrow's games, the top three teams will advance to the second round , which runs Monday - Wednesday next week.

Spain stops USA's winning run

The USA U19 team got a painful wakeup call from Spain, who defeated them 90-86 in the preliminary rounds of the 2009 FIBA World Championship. This was the USA U19 first defeat in eight years.

Nneka scored the team-high 16 points on 63.6% shooting and had eight rebounds. This and her teammates' efforts weren't enough to overcome the determined Spaniards, who went on a 15-1 run in the first quarter.

Here is the game report from FIBA, with statistics and photos.

Here is a more detailed game report from USA Basketball, with quotes from players. Nneka thinks that a lot of their problems today were due to poor communication. "... we're all in the same book, we're just not on the same page. That's a problem that can easily be fixed."

The USA plays its second of three preliminary round games tomorrow against China, who won their first game against Mali 86-60. If you're awake at 5:45 am tomorrow morning, you can follow the game at FIBA Live Statistics

USA U19s ready to play

The USA U19 team trained for the 2009 FIBA U19 World Championship with two practices a day in Colorado Springs. Head coach Carol Owens says they're all very excited to get going. "We've practiced well, we've done all we can do in practice. Now it's time for us to play."

Asked how having players with NCAA Tournament experience will help them, she said, "I think that helps quite a bit. Especially with Nneka being one our captains. I think she’s really comfortable with what we’re trying to do."

Here's the interview with Owens from USA Basketball.