LEON (Mexico) - USA weathered a hard-fighting France, 84-66, to survive the Semi-Finals and advance to the Final of the FIBA U17 Women's Basketball World Cup 2024 at the Domo de la Feria.
It took an entire half before the Americans regained their bearings, but when they did, there was practically nothing the French could do to counter.
USA have remained unbeaten in this edition of the tournament and have secured their seventh podium finish. France still have a chance to match their third-place finish from two years ago if they win their final game tomorrow.
Turning point
France had a strong start to this game, outscoring USA, 24-14, in the first quarter. They sustained that until the half-time break, but coach Meg Barber's squad turned the tables on France in the second half.
The European side actually piled up the lead to as much as 15 points in the third quarter before the defending champions began to storm back.
After outscoring the French, 25-15, in the third period, the Americans shifted their play into high gear in the final frame, leveraging their full-court pressure defense to full effect. A tied game entering the fourth quarter finished as an 18-point rout by the time the final buzzer sounded - completing a massive 33-point swing in the second half.
Game hero
Jerzy Robinson was the main catalyst of USA's comeback in the second half. She delivered on both ends of the floor, finishing with 29 points while also netting 5 steals. This tied her tournament-high total from the Quarter-Finals which was, again, one point short of USA's best in a U17 Women's Basketball World Cup.
Robinson didn't shoot too well from the field (just 8-of-26) but she made up for it by making her free-throws (12-15) and crashing the boards to finish with 11 rebounds. She was perceived as one of the best players heading into the competition, as these past two games have more cemented her spot in that list. With 58 points in the last 24 hours, Robinson has entered USA basketball lore now as one of their best scorers at the youth level.
Stats don't lie
Defense wins, and that's what Team USA needed to survive this game. Their 16 steals led to 25 French turnovers, which in turn, led to 39 points off turnovers for the Americans. France did a good job of protecting the ball in the first half, but they could not sustain that momentum in the face of more intense defensive pressure from USA in the second half.
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