CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (July 28, 2016) -- Team USA was hustling after the ball July 28 and breaking down court so fast against Germany in the first half that Coach Nate Johnson had to put the brakes on.
"We're gambling too much and we're out of position," he told the players at halftime, enjoying a lead of 42-16. He didn't seem all that happy, though, that his team had 12 steals in the first half compared to Germany's two.
"If they were making the shots, we'd be in trouble," Johnson said, "because we are just trying to steal the basketball."
Then referring to offense, "You've got to set a pick up a little bit," he said, encouraging them to run the plays and block guards in order to give teammates an open shot.
The coach confided afterward that he wanted to use this game against Germany in the fourth day of action in the Conseil International du Sports Militaire Women's Basketball Championship as a warm-up to run plays for Friday's gold-medal game against Brazil.
Both Brazil and the USA remained undefeated after four days of play in the round-robin tournament. The USA had beaten Canada on day one, 82-25: France on day two, 85-53; and last year's silver-medalist China on day three, 73-56.
Team USA came out against Germany in the second half at a steadier pace, but scored more points.
USA's Creshenda Singletary of Fort Bragg, North Carolina, was the game's leading scorer with 16 points. Shaniqua Bennet from U.S. Coast Guard Station Curtis Bay in Baltimore was second with 11 points.
Germany's leading scorer was Nancy Loth with 8 points and Selina Kraft scored 6. The final score was 91-27 in favor of team USA.
CHINA BEATS CANADA
In the first game of the day, China beat Canada, 93-37. China's Saiqi Jia was the leading scorer with 15 points. Three of China's players posted 14 points on the scoreboard: Yang Liu, Zhenqi Pan and Tianyang Zhang.
Canada's Nicolle Gaudet had 9 points and Samantha Laplante had 7.
BRAZIL OVER FRANCE
In the last game of the day, Brazil beat France 79-62. Brazil's Gilmara Justino scored 18 points. Soeli Garvao Zakrzeski had 10 points.
France's Johanna Cortinovis had 23 points and Laure Belleville had 15.