July 15, 1998

LORCA, Spain – Notre Dame’s RUTH RILEY (Macy, Ind.) scored five points and grabbed a game-high five rebounds to lead the 1998 USA Women’s Basketball Select Team to a three-game sweep of Spain’s National team. The win concluded an eight-game, 15-day tour for the ’98 USA Select Team in which the U.S. squad posted a 7-1 record against national teams from Puerto Rico, Poland and Spain.

Purdue’s Ukari Figgs scored a game-high 13 points and had four assists, while Virginia’s DeMya Walker added 12 points and two rebounds.

Riley averaged 10.3 points and 7.6 rebounds during the eight-game tour. She posted double-doubles in two of the first three games of the tour versus Puerto Rico.

The U.S. took the early lead 14-9 with 14:40 on the clock, but Spain tied the game up at 27 with 6:37 remaining in the first half and followed with a 22-11 run to take the lead at halftime, 40-35. The U.S. defense stepped up and managed to pull to within one, 40-39 with 19:10 remaining and tied the game up at 46 with 15:45 left in the contest. The U.S. then began to pull away, taking a 48-46 edge with 14:48 remaining in the game and never trailed after that while extending its lead to 65-54 with 6:10 remaining. The defense then held Spain to just six points in the last six minutes of play to earn the 70-60 victory.

“To win this game meant a great deal,” said 1998 USA Select team head coach Carol Ross. “We came out a big sluggish in the first half and Spain hit some big shots. In the second half we played tough defense and held Spain to just 20 second-half points. I don’t think than any one player can take credit for this win. It was a total team effort. To come from behind in the second half and get the win to end this tour on a successful note is a tremendous effort.

“This was a good win for our team. It was a great tour and we had outstanding young women represent our country. The players represented USA Basketball in a great manner. It was a wonderful experience for everyone involved.”

USA Player-By-Player (Scoring-Rebounding-Assists)

DeMya Walker (Virginia) – 12 points, 1 rebounds, 1 assist
Ruth Riley (Notre Dame) – 9 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists
Stacey Thomas (Michigan) – 7 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 6 steals
Ukari Figgs (Purdue) – 13 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists
Jackie Stiles (SW Missouri State) – 6 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist
Katie Douglas (Purdue) – 4 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist
Tynesha Lewis (North Carolina State) – 1 point, 1 assist
Jamie Redd (Washington) – did not score
Brooke Wyckoff (Florida State) – 9 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist
Andrea Garner (Penn State) – 6 points, 3 rebounds
Laura Meadows (Kentucky) – 3 points
Michele VanGorp (Duke) – 1 rebound