USA Women Conquers China, 89-78
Chantelle Anderson totals 10 points and four rebounds

Zuzi Klimesova and the Czech Republic defeat Canada, 70-68

2001 World University Games Schedule

August 28, 2001

BEIJING, China – Vanderbilt's Chantelle Anderson totaled 10 points, four rebounds and two steals as the USA Basketball Women’s World University Games Team (4-1) seized back its lead in the second half to claim an 89-78 victory over China (4-1). Purdue sophomore-to-be Shereka Wright (Copperas Cove, Texas) scored a game high 23 points, while Louisiana Tech’s Ayana Walker (Houston, Texas) recorded the game’s only double-double with 17 points and a game high 12 rebounds. Ashley McElhiney played for three minutes in the contest. The USA concludes quarterfinal round play tomorrow against Brazil (3-3) at 7:00 p.m. at the University Students’ Gym.

“We came out with focus and we were ready to play,” said Jenny Roulier who totaled 12 points. “I think we handled adversity during this game very well. We focus well when we’re down because we know what can happen potentially. The! ! ! team is really excited, but we’re not too excited yet. We just need this as a lift into the next three games.”

The Americans went up 10-2 to start the game and led by as many as nine points in the first period, ending the first quarter on top of China 21-15. In the second quarter, China’s defensive pressure cut the USA’s lead to two with 3:51 to go in the first half. China took the lead for the first time in the game at the 2:56 mark and went into the locker room with a 45-40 advantage over the USA squad.

The Chinese held onto their lead to start the second half. At the 4:15 mark in the third period, Roulier made a 3-pointer to give the USA the lead for good, 56-54. On the next possession Roulier made another three point play with a layup and a free throw, extending the team’s lead to 59-54. The Americans slowly pulled away from China in the game’s last ten minutes as Roulier ad! ! ! ded five more points and Kara Lawson (Tennessee / Alexandria, Va.) recorded 11 of her 16 points in the fourth quarter. The USA’s largest lead over China was the 11 point 89-78 win.

“We needed this win,” said Walker. “We started out really well today and then went into a slump, but after halftime everybody played together to make sure we were going to win this game. We’re feeling really great right now, but we still can’t take Brazil for granted. We still need to come in focused, but right now, we’re feeling really good.”

Five players scored in the double digits including Roulier who finished with 12 and Chantelle Anderson (Vanderbilt / Vancouver, Wash.) who scored 10 points, along with Wright, Walker and Lawson. The USA team outrebounded the Chinese 35 to 15.

“I thought we focused really well today in terms of being aggressive offensively,” said USA ! ! ! and University of Virginia head coach Debbie Ryan. “And we came out with our guns loaded. Then we took what the defense gave us, unfortunately we had a little bit of a lull when China started pressing. We didn’t handle their pressure very well and they came back. After halftime, we were much better and we wore them down a little bit with our pressure.

“Russia and China are huge wins for us,” continued Ryan. “The problem now is not to have a letdown. We’re going to have somewhat of a letdown tomorrow just because that’s a normal reaction. I think our team has to be very mature in the way we approach tomorrow’s game because we don’t want to get too high with today’s win. We just want to win and move on.”

The 2001 World University Games quarterfinals play continues through Aug. 29, with semifinals being conducted Aug. 30 and the medal games ! ! ! being held Aug. 31. The top two teams from pools E and F will advance to the medal semifinals. All times are local Beijing, China time which is 12 hours ahead of EDT.

Ryan is assisted by University of Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder and East Carolina University (N.C.) head coach Dee Stokes.

The World University Games, held every two years and organized by the International University Sports Federation (FISU), is a multi-sport competition open to men and women between the ages of 17 and 28 (born between Jan. 1, 1973 and Dec. 31, 1983) and who are, or have been within the past year, a student at a college or university. The USA Women have enjoyed outstanding success in the World University Games and have earned 11 medals in 12 appearances, including four golds, six silvers and one bronze medal, and have compiled an overall record of 72-15 (82.7 winning percentage) since beginning World University Games play in 1973. In the last competition, which was held in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, the U.S. finished with a 4-2 record and the silver medal. The USA Women last earned the World University Games gold in Sicily in 1997.