USA Women win second consecutive gold at FIBA U17 World Championship

On Sunday, USA’s under-17 Women’s squad repeated their performance from 2010, as they once again went undefeated through the FIBA U17 World Championship to cap off their performance with a gold medal. This victory came in a final versus a spirited Spanish team on August 26 in the Dutch capital of Amsterdam, which played host to the second edition of this tournament.

USA are now 16-0 in the previous two tournaments and have bagged both trophies.

In the final on Sunday against Spain, USA used a balanced attack – with four players scoring in double digits – to defeat their opponents 75-62. USA took a confident 14-point lead in the first quarter and cruised the rest of the way. The final 13-point margin was the closest that anyone came in the tournament to defeating the unstoppable American squad. Spain were led by Marina Lizarazu, who had 19 points in the final.

12 teams took part in this bi-annual tournament, which tipped off in Amsterdam on August 17th. Led by tournament MVP Diamond DeShields, USA romped through the group stage before setting up a semi-final date with neighbours Canada, whom they defeated 84-59 to enter the final.

Although they stumbled earlier on, Spain regained composure as the tournament went on and easily defeated Japan 91-62 in the second semi-final. Leticia Romero (27) and Mario Arrojo (21) led the way for Spain.

Canada beat Japan 84-77 to win the Bronze Medal. Canada were led by Emily Potter (17) while Japan answered back with Yunika Nakamura’s 27.

Final Standings

1. USA2. Spain3. Canada4. Japan5. Australia

All-Tournament Team

Diamond DeShields (USA) – MVPLinnae Harper (USA)Leticia Romero (Spain)Yunika Nakamura (Japan)Evelyn Mawuli (Japan)