USA 85, MLI 66
Winners of the previous two FIBA U19 Women's World Cups, the USA began their championship defense with a 85-66 victory over Mali on Saturday at Jorge Garbajosa Arena in Madrid, Spain. The game opened Group B play for the Americans (1-0) with upcoming tilts with Germany and Chinese Taipei.
The USA-Mali box score is available here.
TEAM NOTES
(Put this Game) on Replay: The U.S. and Mali have now faced each other five times at the FIBA U19 Women's World Cup. The Americans have won every matchup by at least 19 points. The other victories came in 2017 (95-58), 2013 (103-26), 2009 (100-38) and 2001 (97-29).
Feeding America: The USA found success sharing the ball against Mali. The team recorded 12 first-half assists on 18 baskets to carry a 47-31 lead into halftime. The Americans finished with 17 assists on 30 field goals with Hannah Hidalgo and Cotie McMahon (four dimes apiece) leading the way.
Rewrite the Stats: The USA shot 46.8% (30-64 FG) from the floor and 60.6% (20-33 FT) from the line. Mali shot 17.8% (23-74 FG) from the field and 61.9% (13-21 FT) on free throws.
PLAYER NOTES
Euphoria: The U.S. offense ran through McMahon against Mali. She scored a team-high 15 points and four assists to go with seven rebounds in 25 minutes.
Spider-Woman: It was a little bit of everything from the friendly neighborhood Kiki Rice. She excelled on both sides of the ball, scoring 10 points while pulling down five rebounds in 20 minutes of action.
Dancing With The Stars: In addition to McMahon and Rice, the USA had Madison Booker in the double-digit scorers club. Booker put up 10 points in 14 minutes of action. In the 10-or-more rebounds club was Breya Cunningham who pulled down 12 in 13 minutes
What's Next
USA vs. Germany | July 16 @ 12:15 p.m. ET | YouTube.com/FIBA
A game recap will be published on usab.com