McCoughtry leads US women’s hoops in Russia

EKATERINBURG, Russia (AP)—Angel McCoughtry scored 20 points to lead the U.S. basketball team past UMMC Ekaterinburg 78-63 Sunday and captured the tournament title.

The team used a 23-0 run to close the first half and open the third quarter.

Swin Cash added 13 points, Sue Bird had 11, and Tina Charles 10 for the U.S. (3-0), which swept through the tournament after a six-day training camp in Washington D.C. It was a rare chance for the Americans to train before the world championships next year.

The U.S. team trailed 33-30 midway through the second quarter before scoring the last 17 points of the half to take a 47-33 advantage at the break.

Sandrine Gruda scored 15 points to lead UMMC Ekaterinburg (2-1).

“We knew it was going to be a difficult game because of how good they are, the crowd and being home, and we were missing two of our really important players,” U.S. coach Geno Auriemma said. “But I can’t be more proud and excited for the players on our team, how well we played.”

Candace Parker was sidelined with a dislocated shoulder she suffered in the opening game of the tournament. Asjha Jones, who played for the U.S. in the first two games of the tournament, played for UMMC Ekaterinburg on Sunday. Jones, who is under contract with them for the winter, finished with six points.

The Americans were trailing 33-30 midway through the second quarter before scoring the last 17 points of the half to take a 47-33 advantage at the break.

“It was all about the defense,” McCoughtry said. “We played good D, they were tired, we got rebounds and ran.”

Shameka Christon opened the third quarter with consecutive 3s to push the advantage to 53-33.