Alana Beard and the US held on against a very good Australian team to
win the Bronze medal at the Junior World Championships. Alana had a
relatively quiet game, scoring just 13 points, but she did hit 5-10
shots, grab 4 rebounds and get 4 steals. She set a record for steals
for the US in this event with 23 over 7 games. Monique Currie got some
quality minutes as well, scoring 4 points and getting 5 rebounds.
Alana did come up with some crucial plays down the stretch. Australia
was only down 3 towards the end, but Alana blocked a three, got the
rebound, and made 2 free throws to seal the win. Hopefully, she'll get
lots of rest since she'll be going down to Australia with the rest of her
Duke teammates in just 3 weeks.
Alana and teammate Diana Taurasi of UConn were both named to the
All-Junior World Championship team. The homestanding Czech Republic team
nipped Russia by 2 in the finals to win the Gold.
by Rob Clough