The USA Young Women's and Pan-Am teams wrapped up the week's worth of
friendlies up in Boston. Alana Beard competed for the former team and
Iciss Tillis for the latter, while Jessica Foley is competing for her
native Australia. Check out this photo
of Jess trying to check Alana!
The Young Women's team wasn't particularly challenged by anyone,
especially when Alana was around. In her absence, the team struggled a bit though still beat Australia. With her
back in the lineup, they turned a tight game into a solid win against Brazil and then blew out Australia in the final game. Alana scored 13 in that
final game on 6-7 shooting, along with 5 rebounds, 5 steals and (ugh) 6
turnovers. Against Brazil, she had 16 points (on 7-15 shooting, though
0-4 from three), 2 boards, 3 assists, 1 block and a steal. She had a
tough first half but really came on strong down the stretch--no surprise
there. The team really started to gel by the end of the week, with
everybody getting into the act. The team opens up the Young Women's World
Championship on Friday the 25th.
The Pan-Am team finished 1-1 against Brazil and Australia, after only
having practiced for a couple of days. Iciss Tillis only played 9 minutes
against Australia but did manage to score 5 points and grab 3
boards, as well as gathering in a steal. She played a bigger role in the
narrow win over Brazil, scoring 7 points on 3-9 shooting, with 6 rebounds,
1 assist and 1 steal in 15 minutes of play. The Pan-Am team will head to
the Dominican Republic for games beginning on August 1st.
Lastly, Jess Foley only played 1 minute against the Young Women's team
and 4 minutes against the Pan-Am team, combining for 0-3 shooting in the
two games. This tournament will be more of a learning experience for her
than a chance to get a lot of playing time, but every practice and bit of
exposure will help.