United States women's William Jones Cup basketball team
The R. William Jones Cup competition is an international basketball tournament for men's and women's teams held in Taipei, Taiwan almost annually since the inaugural event in 1977.The event is named after Renato William Jones, the founding secretary-general of FIBA, the International Basketball Federation.The USA opened the second half with a 9–2 run to reclaim the lead for good and went on to win the game.They then went on to win their next two games easily, and faced the defending champions South Korea in the final.The game was very close, but the USA fell to Canada 70–67 to finish with a single loss and the silver medal.The team opened with a lopsided 92–18 victory over the Philippines, then faced Sweden in the second game.Japan was in the lead with five minutes to go in the game, but the USA came back to win with a two-point margin 56–54.After easily beating Malaysia, the USA team faced undefeated Republic of China, who kept the game close until halftime.Nikita Lowry scored in the final seconds to give the USA team the win, and the gold medal with an overall 7–0 record.In the next game the USA faced the defending Jones cup champions South Korea.The USA team started out with an eight-point win over Japan, then won their next five with double-digit margins.The team did not start well, losing the opening game to Japan, and followed that with a three-point loss to Republic of China – Cathay Life.Despite having four players averaging double-digit scoring, including Wendy Palmer at almost 19 points per game, the USA had some close matches.After winning the opening game, the USA team faced the champions of the prior year, Republic of China – Cathay Life.In the final game against South Korea, the teams were tied at the end of regulation and went into overtime.After two free throws, South Korea scored, and had the ball on the final possession with a chance to win, but was unable to get up a shot in time.The game was tied at 45 all, when the USA hit several free throws to take a lead they would not give up.In the final game, the USA beat South Korea to finish the competition with a perfect 9-0 record.Four of the six were decided by six points or fewer, including the semifinal game against Japan which went to overtime.South Korea came back, took the lead, and held on to win the championship and the gold medal 76-71.Assistant coaches: Angie Lee and Trina Patterson The opening game was against Republic of China.Kelly Schumacher grabbed an offensive rebound and scored to bring the lead back to five points and the team held on for the win.The final game was against Malaysia, but it wasn't close, with the USA winning 79–24, to secure a 4–0 record for the competition and the gold medal.