Story courtesy of USA Basketball
GUADALAJARA, Mexico - In a game that was decided in the final few minutes, the USA (0-2) suffered a 75-70 setback against Puerto Rico (1-1) in the 2011 Pan American Games women's basketball competition on Saturday evening at the CODE Dome in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Gonzaga University women's basketball senior Katelan Redmon scored four points, grabbed eight rebounds and had three assists in 26 minutes of action. Classmate Kayla Standish saw two minutes of action and missed her only shot attempt.
Tied at 61-61 midway through the fourth quarter, the USA was outscored 14-9 over the final five minutes as Puerto Rico sank its final six free throw attempts to seal the USA's fate.
Breanna Stewart (Cicero-North Syracuse H.S./North Syracuse, N.Y.), the team's only high school player, finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds, Tavelyn James (Eastern Michigan/Detroit, Mich.) contributed 12 points, Marissa Kastanek (North Carolina State/Lincoln, Neb.) added nine and Shante Evans (Hofstra/West Chester, Pa.) collected 11 rebounds to go with her five points off of 5-of-6 shooting from the free throw line.
"I do think we have improved," said the USA head coach Ceal Barry. "I felt like our team fought harder in the third quarter, and we didn't dig ourselves into a hole. It was unfortunate. We gave away a few possessions down the stretch, and that really hurt us. The players worked hard, and they did the best that they could. I have no complaints. Their coaches should be proud at how they are representing their respective programs, and they are handling themselves with a lot of class."
Despite shooting 37.7 percent (23-61 FGs) to Puerto Rico's 36.8 percent from the field (25-68 FGs) and winning the rebounding battle 44-28, the USA was plagued by 19 turnovers to Puerto Rico's 11.
"We can do a better job of executing and cutting down on the turnovers," said Emilie Johnson (UC Santa Barbara/Loomis, Calif.). "Those are the main things. We are playing hard. I think we need to trust each other more. With only playing together a week, it comes down to trusting each other. We are right there."
The USA will close out preliminary round group play against host Mexico (2-0) at 8 p.m. (times listed are Central Daylight Time, which is -1 hour from Eastern Daylight Time) on Oct. 23.
