Lang & Company Do It Again.

If the USA U21 team was the least bit tired from yesterday's come-from-behind win over Australia, they sure didn't show it in this morning's matchup against Brazil, which the USA won by a score of 96-40.

Maryland's own Crystal Langhorne, starting at power forward for the Americans, and her frontcourt teammate, Courtney Paris of Oklahoma, so dominated the paint that the game was over before half-time. The USA outscored Brazil, 24-8, in the first ten minutes and followed it up with a 30-5 second period. Game. Set. Match. Crystal scored the first basket of the game, and then went a perfect 9-9 from the field to finish with top-scoring honors, 19 points in only 18 minutes of play. Courtney was nearly perfect from the field, hitting only 6-7, but did lead all rebounders with 9, so we guess we shouldn't be too critical of her performance. (j/k) The USA's bench got plenty of PT in this one. We're happy to report that our other Terrapin, Laura Harper, was close on Courtney's heels, pulling down 8 boards and scoring 10 points in 17 minutes on the court. Like Courtney, Harp also missed just a single FG attempt (2-3), but she was perfect from the free throw line, 6-6.

After these back-to-back games yesterday and this morning, the USA team plays again tomorrow, this time facing off against a hungry Hungary team. Two years ago in an exhibition game prior to the U19 FIBA World Championships, Hungary upset the Americans, a loss that was avenged when real tournament play began a short time later. Hungary is currently 1-1 in the FIBA Championship, having beaten Japan, but losing to Australia.

Photo Credit: USA Basketball