U.S. steaming toward gold U.S. steaming toward gold (August 19, 2005)

Stanford basketball players making the most of their opportunity at World University Games

by Nathan Kurz

The U.S. basketball teams are rolling along at the World University Games in Izmir, Turkey, and Stanford players are making a contribution - albeit in reserve roles.

The women's team advanced to today's gold medal game with a 118-67 semifinal victory over Russia on Wednesday, while the men's team moved into the semifinals after downing Australia, 88-68, on Thursday.

Stanford's Matt Haryasz scored 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting as a reserve in the Americans' last preliminary second-round game, a 87-51 win over Czech Republic on Wednesday.

Cardinal senior center Brooke Smith, meanwhile, had 16 points and nine rebounds off the bench in the women's last two games, including a 109-57 quarterfinal thumping of Taiwan Tuesday.

Haryasz and Chris Hernandez each started the Americans' first game but have been coming off the bench ever since. Haryasz made a rare start earlier this week when Boston College forward Craig Smith, the team's second-leading scorer, had to sit out with a lower back sprain.

Smith hasn't started a game but has made the most of her minutes; she leads the Americans in field goal percentage (80 percent on 20-of-25 shooting); she's scored in every game, averaging a respectable 7.3 points per game; and she's pulled down the third-most rebounds (30) on the team.

Leading the women over Russia were LSU teammates and Stanford rivals Sylvia Fowles and Seimone Augustus, who combined for 43 points, including 30 in the first half. Augustus also dished out her team-high five assists all in the first twenty minutes as the U.S. built a 50-33 halftime advantage.

"If I was scouting us and saw that combo, I don't know what I'd do," U.S. coach Kathy Delaney-Smith said. "They're truly among the finest, if not the best players in the country. They're both so unselfish and team oriented, which makes them all that much more refreshing and, in fact, better."

The women play today for their sixth gold medal and first since 2001. USA basketball didn't send a team to the last World University Games in 2003.

"It's surreal to me," Delaney-Smith said. "It's more exciting than you even anticipate. I just love the unselfish play of the team and I think that equals gold, so hopefully I'm right."

Stanford senior Amber Liu was all set to compete for the United States women's tennis team at the World University Games this week but the U.S. Tennis Association pulled out its team at the last minute citing "security reasons."

Tennis was the only sport which did not send a team to the Games from the U.S. Stanford's Kevin Hansen and the United States men's volleyball team opened consolation play with a hard-fought win over Korea, 25-22, 26-24, 25-23. They played against Russia late yesterday.

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