Ajavon Powers Pan Am Team Past Columbia
Jul 21 | Women's Basketball
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - Rutgers' Matee Ajavon paced USA Basketball with 15 points as the squad rolled to a 95-41 win over Colombia in the opening game of the Pan American Games late Friday evening at Rio Multipurpose Arena.
Ajavon, in a starting role for Team USA, went 6-of-10 from the field in 19 minutes of action. The Newark, N.J. native drilled a team-best three three-pointers and added two steals and two assists to her line score.
The USA dominated from the start moving to a 17-4 advantage five minutes into the contest. The squad owned a commanding 18 point advantage, 32-14, after the first quarter.
The Red, White and Blue continued to roll in the second quarter and extended its lead to a 40-point advantage while taking a 63-23 lead to the locker room at the end of the second quarter.
The USA shot 52.7 percent in the contest, including 11-of-21 3-pointers (.524). Forty-two of the team's 95 points were scored in the paint and 19 recorded off of turnovers. The USA out-rebounded Columbia 50-27.
The U.S. squad is the youngest team in the eight-team tournament pool. They face Argentina on Saturday evening.
Ajavon noted of the upcoming game, "From what I hear, they [Argentina] are a tough team. I'm sure every team here has come to win the gold medal. We're open-minded and we just want to play hard."
