Vaughn Grabs 11 Rebounds for Team USA
Jul 06 | Women's Basketball
MOSCOW, Russia - Rutgers' Kia Vaughn grabbed a team-best 11 rebounds to help lead the 2007 USA Basketball U21 World Championship Team to a 104-53 victory over Belgium on Friday night at the FIBA U21 World Championship in Moscow. With the win, the U.S. advances to Saturday evening's semifinal contest (10:00 a.m. EDT) against host Russia (5-1), which defeated Hungary (3-3) 71-55 earlier this evening.
Vaughn corralled seven of her 11 boards on the defensive end and added seven points. Scarlet Knights teammate Essence Carson had a team-best three assists to go along with four points for the 6-0 U.S. squad.
Belgium had issues with the USA's fast-paced offense and stifling defense as the Americans dominated both ends of the floor in a 27-9 second quarter clinic and were up 50-27 at the half.
Any second half comeback hopes were quickly squelched as the U.S. came out of the locker room and went on an 11-0 tear to put the game out of reach 61-27 with 16:55 more to play in the game. The Americans strung together a 16-0 scoring spree late in the game to double Belgium's scoring output for the biggest lead of the night, 98-49 with 2:04 remaining en route to the win.
The USA's medal quarterfinals domination was another all-around team effort as every player scored, including six in double digits.
