In Croatia, the USA Young Women's World Championship team beat France in their first round game. Alana Beard led the
team with 13 points, but it wasn't pretty. The US almost let the game slip away
after building a big lead. The US plays South Korea (pounded by the Czech
Republic, one of the top teams in the tournament) tomorrow.
The Pan-Am team is struggling a bit as they try to learn how to play as
a team. Playing against Cuba in a series of friendlies, the US is
struggling with an older and more physical squad. The Pan-Am games has no
age limit, so most of the countries are sending their best players. In
the first game, the US lost 70-67. Despite the loss, Iciss Tillis played extremely
well, scoring 14 points on 7-15 shooting, along with 4 steals and 3
turnovers. In the second loss, she had 7 points, 3 rebounds and 3 turnovers. In
the last game, Tillis had just 2 points on 1-4 shooting, but did
have 3 rebounds and 2 steals. Unfortunately for the team, the losses got
worse as things went along, as Cuba figured out how to negate the USA's
athleticism.