US team falls to Canada in World Championships

Malina Howard and her teammates on the United States U19 squad tasted defeat for the first time in the FIBA World Championships in Chile yesterday but remain alive for an opportunity at a gold medal in the international competition.

The U.S. team suffered from 36 percent shooting performance from the floor in a 64-52 setback at the hands of Canada. It was the team's first loss in six games but the Americans still advance to the quarterfinals against France tomorrow.

A win in that game would send the U.S. to Saturday's semifinal round against the survivor of the Russia-Brazil contest. The finals are set for Sunday night.

Twinsburg's Howard has been playing solid basketball in her limited playing time. She played just four minutes against Canada and scored two points while pulling down three rebounds. The U.S. team was outscored 23-13 in the decisive fourth period.

"This changes our path to get a gold medal opportunity but I hope it makes a difference in a positive way," said U.S. coach Jennifer Rizzotti. "None of these kids have ever lost a game in this type of competition, so now they know what it feels like and hopefully they'll respond the right way."

Howard had a standout effort in a 90-64 blowout win over Italy earlier in the week a she went two-for-two from the floor and three-for-three at the foul line to finish with seven points. She added four rebounds in 15 minutes of action.

In other action this week, the U.S. team survived a scare against China before prevailing by an 80-77 count. In that contest, Howard had two points, three rebounds and one blocked shot in 19 minutes of court time.

"Our team needs to really remember what we're here for, take it seriously and get themselves ready to go," said Rizzotti. "They need to understand that we're going to get everybody's best shot."

Howard has been enjoying her first trip out of the country. After the first round of games, the Tiger senior went on a tour of Chile which included a visit with some llamas, a trip to volcanos in the Los Logos region and some sledding.

But things get serious tomorrow for the game against France. A loss would knock the team out of gold medal competition and deprive Howard of a chance at back-to-back titles in international play within the space of a year.

Last summer, Howard helped lead the United States U18 team to a title in the World Championships held in Colorado Springs. She was originally named as an alternate for this year's U19 team before being called in to play just before the team left for Chile.