News Release

5465 Mark Dabling Blvd., Colorado Springs, CO 80918-3842 http://www.usabasketball.com FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE / July 15, 2003

For further information contact Caroline Williams with the team at 719-330-3310 or Craig Miller, Kate Lakin or Tamara Metcalfe at USA (719) 590-4800.

*This release is also available on USA Basketball's World Wide Web homepage - http://www.usabasketball.com.

USA Young Women Past First Test, Beat Brazil 82-61 In Exhibition Contest

BOSTON (July 15, 2003) -- Alana Beard (Duke / Shreveport, La.) scored 17 points to lead five players in double digits as the USA World Championship For Young Women Team downed the Brazilian Young Women National Team 82-61 on Tuesday afternoon in Boston. The game, played at Northeastern University’s Matthews Arena, was the first in a series of friendlies between the USA, Australia and Brazil young women, as well as the USA Pan American Games squad. The three young women national teams are preparing for the 2003 FIBA World Championhip For Young Women, which will be held July 25-Aug. 12 in Sibenik, Croatia. “This whole week is going to be good for us because you’re going to see things that are very different then what you work on when you play against yourselves in practice,” said USA and Ohio State University head coach Jim Foster. “We played a very athletic team today that played some very good pick and rolls and a really good high-low, and we had to make some adjustments to guard that. Offensively I thought that we had some good ball movement and you could see the difference that made between the first two quarters.” “I’ve said it before, but I sort of forgot the feeling of what it’s like (to be in a USA uniform),” said USA co-captain Beard, who was selected to FIBA’s five-member 2001 All-Junior World Championship Team following that competition. “I took off last summer, but now that I’m back it feels good to play with the other players. It’s all a learning experience because you learn from different players, just like you learn from different coaches. It’s an awesome feeling to be back.” The U.S., which shot just 36.8 percent (7-19 FGs) from the field in the first quarter, scored the game’s first two points off a Beard jumper. Brazil turned around and made its first five shots, while the United States slumped and at 7:33 Brazil was ahead 12-6. The North Americans never allowed Brazil to take more than a six- point lead from that point and twice pulled to within one, but couldn’t regain the lead. At the end of the first period Brazil was on top 23-19. Neither team could get anything going to start the second stanza, combining for 0-for-5 from the field and three turnovers, until Brazil scored at 8:05 to go up 25-19. The United States regrouped, pressuring the ball on the defensive end and began to slowly chip away at the slim deficit. With the score in favor of the Brazilians 33-31, Lindsay Whalen (Minnesota / Hutchinson, Minn.) nailed a 3-pointer to give the United States a lead it would never relinquish, 34-33, with 2:11 to go before the break. Forcing the South Americans into a trio of turnovers and two missed shots on their final five possessions of the half, the USA was able to outscore Brazil 8-0 over the final minutes and take a 42-33 lead into the locker room. The second quarter saw the U.S. outscore Brazil 23-10, shooting 60.0 percent (9-15 FGs), while forcing Brazil to shoot 25.0 percent (3-12 FGs) from the field. “I think everyone was trying to get a feel for the game, it’s a different style of play,” said USA co- captain (Rutgers / Chicago, Ill.). “We made some adjustments in the second quarter. Defense, communication. We started to communicate more, we started to pressure the ball and work together more. It felt more like a team effort because everybody started, it was urgent, everybody took charge, made adjustments and came out to play in the second quarter.” The third quarter was close, with the U.S. taking a 15-13 advantage to up its lead to 11 points, 57-46. Slowly pulling away in the fourth, the United States outscored Brazil 25-15 and earned its largest lead, and the final points of the game, from a Whalen 3-pointer which put the USA up 82-61 with 1:11 to play. In addition to Beard’s 17 points, the USA’s offensive effort was bolstered by 15 points from (Kansas State / Marysville, Kan.), Pondexter added 11 points and passed off for four assists, while (Kansas State / Clay Center, Kan.) and Christi Thomas (Georgia / Buford, Ga.) each pitched in 10 points. Temeka Johnson (Louisiana State / Kenner, La.) passed off for a team high five assists and Whalen finished with eight points. “It was good to get out there,” said Wecker. “When you’re praticing for so long, you just want to play. It was fun to get out on the court, get in a game situation, and coach Foster had some comments for me before the game about my shot falling. I really tried to focus on that, but I think that anytime you hit your first shot you have coinfidence in yourself and your shot. I kept shooting and trying to take good shots, not ones that were off balance, and they went in.” Brazil was led by 12 points apiece from Silvia Rocha and Graziane Coelho, while Erika de Souza grabbed 10 rebounds and Rocha dished out seven assists. The series of ‘friendlies’ continues July 16 with the USA Young Women and Australia competing at 1:00 p.m. at Matthews Arena. On July 17 Australia and Brazil are scheduled to play at 1:00 p.m. at Matthews Arena and the USA Young Women will practice following the Australia-Brazil contest. With the arrival of the USA Pan Am Games Team on July 17, the two USA squads are slated to scrimmage on July 18 at 1:00 p.m. at the Reebok Campus gym (Canton, Mass.). July 19 - 20 will see a pair of double-headers beginning at 1:00 p.m. each day at Matthews Arena. On July 19 the USA Young Women will play Brazil in the first game, followed by the USA Pan Am squad versus Australia at approximately 3:00 p.m.; while the July 20 double-header will feature the USA Pan Am Games Team competing against Brazil, followed by the USA Young Women against Australia.

USA Basketball Friendly Matches, Boston, Mass. July 15 USA Young Women 82, Brazil 61 July 16 1:00 p.m. USA Young Women vs. Australia Matthews Arena, Northeastern University July 17 1:00 p.m. Australia vs. Brazil Matthews Arena, Northeastern University July 18 1:00 p.m. USA Young Women vs. USA Pan Am Women Reebok Campus (Canton, Mass.) (scrimmage) July 19 1:00 p.m. USA Young Women vs. Brazil Matthews Arena, Northeastern University 3:00 p.m. USA Pan Am Women vs. Australia Matthews Arena, Northeastern University July 20 1:00 p.m. USA Pan Am Women vs. Brazil Matthews Arena, Northeastern University 3:00 p.m. USA Young Women vs. Australia Matthews Arena, Northeastern University

NOTE: All times local.

*** ATHLETE / COACH INTERVIEWS *** If you are planning on attending a practice or would like to arrange a telephone interview with a member of the USA team following any practice session or game, please contact Caroline Williams at 719-330-3310 while in the United States or [email protected] after the team has departed the United States, or contact another member of the USA Basketball Communications Department at 719-590-4800. OFFICIAL BASKETBALL BOX SCORE -- G A M E T O T A L S Brazil Young Women vs USA Young Women 7/15/03 1:00 p.m. at Matthews Arena (Boston, Mass.) ------VISITORS: Brazil Young Women (0-1) TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS No. N A M E FG FGA FG FGA FT FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 07 SACKIS, Ana Flavia * 3 5 1 3 0 1 1 2 3 3 7 0 2 0 0 23 09 BELING, Fernanda * 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 17 10 ROCHA, Silvia * 4 11 1 4 3 4 2 0 2 5 12 7 1 0 2 30 13 Dos SANTOS, Flavia * 4 7 0 1 1 2 1 2 3 0 9 2 2 0 0 25 14 De SOUZA, Erika * 2 6 0 0 0 0 4 6 10 4 4 0 1 1 0 21 04 ROCHA, Karen 0 8 0 5 2 2 0 4 4 0 2 1 3 0 1 19 05 MANFREDI, Fabiana 1 2 0 1 2 2 0 1 1 1 4 2 4 0 1 18 06 GABRIELLI, Nathalia 2 4 1 2 0 0 1 0 1 2 5 1 3 0 0 8 08 LEITE, Claudia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 4 11 Dos SANTOS, Katia 2 5 0 1 2 5 0 1 1 1 6 1 2 1 1 16 15 COELHO, Graziane 4 8 0 0 4 4 2 2 4 0 12 1 0 1 1 19 TEAM ...... 3 2 5 TOTALS 22 59 3 17 14 20 14 21 35 16 61 15 21 3 6 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-28 .393 2nd Half: 22-59 .373 Game: .373 DEADBALL 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3- 9 .333 2nd Half: 3-17 .176 Game: .176 REBOUNDS F Throw % 1st Half: 8- 8 1.000 2nd Half: 14-20 .700 Game: .700 2

------HOME TEAM: USA Young Women (1-0) TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS No. N A M E FG FGA FG FGA FT FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 04 PONDEXTER, Cappie * 5 6 1 1 0 2 0 2 2 1 11 4 0 0 1 22 06 BEARD, Alana * 7 13 2 3 1 2 0 3 3 3 17 0 1 0 1 24 10 AUGUSTUS, Seimone * 1 5 0 0 0 0 1 3 4 1 2 1 2 0 0 18 12 OHLDE, Nicole * 4 9 0 0 2 3 3 2 5 1 10 3 1 1 1 28 14 THOMAS, Christi * 4 8 0 2 2 2 1 7 8 3 10 2 1 0 2 24 05 MATTER, Caity 1 5 1 5 0 0 0 1 1 0 3 0 2 0 1 11 07 WHALEN, Lindsay 2 2 2 2 2 2 0 2 2 2 8 0 0 0 0 10 08 WECKER, Kendra 6 9 1 1 2 2 0 1 1 1 15 1 0 0 2 15 09 WRIGHT, Tanisha 0 1 0 0 2 2 3 1 4 1 2 1 1 0 1 19 13 JOHNSON, Temeka 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 5 2 0 0 16 15 POLK, Shawntinice 2 4 0 0 0 2 0 3 3 2 4 1 3 0 0 13 11 MANN, Kristen DNP – Injured TEAM ...... 3 0 3 2 TOTALS 32 63 7 14 11 17 11 27 38 15 82 18 15 1 9 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 16-34 .471 2nd Half: 32-63 .508 Game: .508 DEADBALL 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3- 8 .375 2nd Half: 7-14 .500 Game: .500 REBOUNDS F Throw % 1st Half: 7-11 .636 2nd Half: 11-17 .647 Game: .647 5

------OFFICIALS: TECHNICAL FOULS: Brazil Young Women - none USA Young Women - none ATTENDANCE: SCORE BY PERIODS: 1st 2nd 3rd 4th OT1 OT2 TOTAL Brazil Young Women 23 10 13 15 61 USA Young Women 19 23 15 25 82