Team USA Advances past Puerto Rico at FIBA World Cup
7/26/2017 2:35:00 PM | Women's Basketball
McConnell-Serio, Incoming Panther Face Off in Round of 16
Photo Gallery | Box Score
CIVIDALE DEL FRIULI, ITALY – University of Pittsburgh women's basketball and USA U19 head coach Suzie McConnell-Serio led the United States (4-0) to a 104-46 victory over Puerto Rico (0-4) and incoming Panther Pika Rodriguez to advance to the FIBA U19 Women's World Cup Quarterfinals Wednesday at Palazzetto dello Sport.
"It's tough coaching against one of your players, because she's playing against us and it's about us winning," McConnell-Serio said. "At the same time, I'm rooting for her to do well, but the goal is for us to win, so it's tough. I didn't enjoy coaching against [Pika] and I look forward to having her in a Pitt uniform and having the opportunity to coach her there."
McConnell-Serio and the six-time defending gold medalists Team USA will face France (3-1) in the quarterfinals Friday with a tipoff time to be announced. Puerto Rico will take on Hungary (1-3) in the classification rounds.
Rodriguez, an incoming freshman out of Hartford, Conn., is the No. 3 scorer for the tournament so far, averaging 16.0 points per game. She has reached double figures in each of her four contests. Against the United States, Rodriguez was one of Puerto Rico's two leading scorers with 13 points. The 5-foot-11 forward hit 3-of-9 from long range, 4-of-4 from the free throw line and added two rebounds.
"She's an amazing coach," Rodriguez said of McConnell-Serio. "She obviously helped USA very well. They are very talented, but I felt like her coaching ability is not just about sitting there and telling them what to do, that she was actually helping them throughout the practices and helping them throughout the experience. Being her player, I'm very excited for this. I feel like it will help me a lot in basketball, not just as a player but further through my career if I do go to the WNBA or overseas. I know that she'll help me through that. I also know that it'll be a really great experience because of what she has accomplished herself, so I feel like we can connect more because of what we've both experienced here."
UP NEXT
The medal round games are played in a knockout format, which means win and continue playing for gold or lose and be relegated to the classification round. Following Friday's quarterfinals, the semifinals will be Saturday, July 29, and the final Sunday, July 30.
Recaps of each day's competition will be posted to PittsburghPanthers.com.
#H2P | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
CIVIDALE DEL FRIULI, ITALY – University of Pittsburgh women's basketball and USA U19 head coach Suzie McConnell-Serio led the United States (4-0) to a 104-46 victory over Puerto Rico (0-4) and incoming Panther Pika Rodriguez to advance to the FIBA U19 Women's World Cup Quarterfinals Wednesday at Palazzetto dello Sport.
"It's tough coaching against one of your players, because she's playing against us and it's about us winning," McConnell-Serio said. "At the same time, I'm rooting for her to do well, but the goal is for us to win, so it's tough. I didn't enjoy coaching against [Pika] and I look forward to having her in a Pitt uniform and having the opportunity to coach her there."
McConnell-Serio and the six-time defending gold medalists Team USA will face France (3-1) in the quarterfinals Friday with a tipoff time to be announced. Puerto Rico will take on Hungary (1-3) in the classification rounds.
Rodriguez, an incoming freshman out of Hartford, Conn., is the No. 3 scorer for the tournament so far, averaging 16.0 points per game. She has reached double figures in each of her four contests. Against the United States, Rodriguez was one of Puerto Rico's two leading scorers with 13 points. The 5-foot-11 forward hit 3-of-9 from long range, 4-of-4 from the free throw line and added two rebounds.
"She's an amazing coach," Rodriguez said of McConnell-Serio. "She obviously helped USA very well. They are very talented, but I felt like her coaching ability is not just about sitting there and telling them what to do, that she was actually helping them throughout the practices and helping them throughout the experience. Being her player, I'm very excited for this. I feel like it will help me a lot in basketball, not just as a player but further through my career if I do go to the WNBA or overseas. I know that she'll help me through that. I also know that it'll be a really great experience because of what she has accomplished herself, so I feel like we can connect more because of what we've both experienced here."
UP NEXT
The medal round games are played in a knockout format, which means win and continue playing for gold or lose and be relegated to the classification round. Following Friday's quarterfinals, the semifinals will be Saturday, July 29, and the final Sunday, July 30.
Recaps of each day's competition will be posted to PittsburghPanthers.com.
#H2P | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
A Message from Coach Verdi
Thursday, September 18
Coach Verdi Mic'd Up | Pitt LiveWire presented by UPMC
Tuesday, September 16
Highlights | Pitt 79, Wake Forest 63
Sunday, March 02
Pitt Women's Basketball Highlights | Pitt 79, Boston College 66
Saturday, March 01