Delle Donne: the best of the best?

The United States' resounding 101-66 victory over Chinese Taipei in the World University Games gold medal contest left no doubt Team USA was the best team. But was Delaware's Elena Delle Donne the best player on the best team?

One could certainly make that case. The Blue Hens star helped finish off Chinese Taipei with a flourish, as she racked up 18 points and team highs of 11 rebounds and 8 assists in 30 minutes (also a team high). The double-double was her third in the six games. For the tournament, Delle Donne, who started every game, led the U.S. in scoring (15.7 ppg) and rebounding (8.5 rpg).

If nothing else, anyone that thought Delle Donne's Delaware numbers were in any way a product of playing in the mid-major CAA must now recognize that even when surrounded by several of the best college players in the country, this player belonged in the front row.

She may have even been at the head of the class.

World University Games results

Gold medal: United States 101, Chinese Taipei 66

Bronze: Australia 66, Sweden 56

5th place: Russia 71, Canada 52

7th place: Brazil 62, Finland 57

9th place: Czech Republic 93, China 68

11th place: Lithuania 80, Japan 66

13th place: Slovakia 69, Great Britain 56

15th place: Poland

ODU duo, Great Britain finish 14th at World University Games

Great Britain ended the World University Games in disappointing fashion Saturday, dropping a 69-56 decision to Slovakia to finish 14th out of 15 teams. The loss was the fourth straight for the Brits (1-4) since they opened the tournament with a 61-54 victory over this same Slovakia outfit.

Old Dominion's Mairi Buchan, who was hoping to use this event as a springboard to a spot on Great Britain's 2012 Olympic team, finished with 2 points and 4 rebounds in 14 minutes while her Lady Monarchs teammate Becca Allison contributed 2 points in a little over 9 minutes for Great Britain. Buchan, who was coming off a 6-points, 7-rebound effort in her previous game, finished the tournament with 12 points and 14 rebounds in the five games; Allison totaled 8 points in the tournament.

Lithuania finished 11th by downing Japan 80-66. Poland, the only winless team in the tournament (0-4), wound up in 15th (last) place.

The gold-medal game featuring the United States and Chinese Taipei is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Sunday and can be viewed here.

Delle Donne, U.S. reach World University Games final

UPDATE: The World University Games gold medal women's basketball will be streamed live here. Registration is free. 

In what was by far its closest game of the tournament, Delaware star Elena Delle Donne had a tournament-high 22 points (on 24 shots) and 11 rebounds to lead the United States past Australia 79-67 in the World University Games semifinals Friday in Shenzhen, China. The U.S. will face fellow unbeaten Chinese Taipei, which survived Sweden 71-70 in overtime in the other semifinal,  in the gold medal game. Chinese Taipei's Yingli Huang made the second of two free throws with two seconds left to break a 70-70 tie.

The gold medal game is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Sunday (Eastern time).

The U.S.-Australia game featured some unusual shot distribution from the winners, particularly considering how many weapons Team USA can deploy. Delle Donne made 10 of 24 field goal attempts. Notre Dame's Skylar Diggins, who added 17 points, was 7 of 20 from the field. No other Team USA player took more than than 7 shots; Delle Donne and Diggins combined for 44 of their team's 78 shot attempts. But hey, it worked.

The U.S. (5-0) was coming off a 66-point victory over Finland in the quarterfinals. It's previous "closest'' game was a 46-point decision over Slovakia.

Also see: Delle Donne's video diary

Buchan gets better, Great Britain gets beat

Old Dominion's Mairi Buchan turned in her best performance of the World University Games, but it wasn't enough as Great Britain fell to Lithuania 79-69 in a classification round Thursday in Shenzhen, China.

As for the juggernaut U.S. team, Delaware star Elena Delle Donne scored the first eight points of the game and tied for team-high honors with 17 in the contest as Team USA filleted Finland 96-30 in quarterfinal acton. Notre Dame's Devereaux Peters also scored 17 points for the U.S., whose 66-point margin of victory was high even by this team's dominating standards. The U.S. had won its previous three games by an average of just over 52 points. The unbeaten (and untested) U.S. (4-0) will face Australia in the semifinals Friday at 8:30 a.m. The Aussies (4-0) advanced with a 79-44 victory over Canada. Chinese Taipei (4-0) will play Sweden (3-1) in the other semifinal. The gold medal game will be played on Sunday at 9:30 a.m.

Remember to keep up with Delle Donne's exploits through her video diary.

For Great Britain, Buchan had personal tournament highs in points (6), rebounds (7) and minutes played (21) as she continues rounding into form after a year-long absence from competitive play because of injuries. After starting Great Britain's first three games, Buchan came off the bench against Lithuania but wound up being on the court longer than all but three other Great Britain players. Buchan's Lady Monarchs teammate Becca Allison contributed 2 points in 8 minutes. Chantelle Handy led Great Britain with 19 points.

The loss was Great Britain's third straight since a tournament-opening victory over Slovakia.

U.S. 85, Great Britain 33 at World University Games

Ouch.

A Great Britain squad featuring Old Dominion's Mairi Buchan and Becca Allison became the latest to feel the fury of mighty Team USA as the Americans blitzed the Brits 85-33 in the teams' final preliminary round of the World University Games. The United States has now beaten its three WUG opponents by a combined 158 points.

Delaware star and Team USA starter Elena Delle Donne had 10 points and 6 rebounds for the U.S. Notre Dame's Skylar Diggins led the balanced attack with 13 points and Stanford's Chiney Ogwumike added 12 for the United States (3-0), which as the first-place team in Pool B will meet Pool A runner-up Finland (2-1) in the quarterfinals Wednesday at 10 p.m (Eastern time).

Buchan, still trying to regain her form after sitting out nearly a full year with injury, went scoreless on 0-of-8 shooting in 18 minutes for Great Britain (1-2), which shot just 18 percent from the field and nearly produced more turnovers (32) than points. Buchan has started all three games. Allison managed 2 points in a 28-minute stint of the bench, by far her longest outing of the tournament.

The game actually featured four CAA players, as Great Britain's Renee Johnson-Allen (Drexel) also took part along with Delle Donne, Buchan and Allison.

I noticed yesterday when I saw them in the village, I was like, ‘I know these girls.’ " Delle Donne said. "Two of them are on ODU’s team and one was from Drexel, so it was pretty cool out there playing with girls in my conference.It says the CAA is definitely a strong conference. I’m definitely proud of the conference and glad to see we’re out here representing it."

Great Britain played without former Marshall star Chantelle Handy, who averaged 20.5 points in Great Britain's first two games, the third-highest average in the tournament. It is unclear why Handy wasn't available.

The loss dropped Great Britain into the classification rounds for 9th-16th place. The third-place team from Pool B, Great Britain will next face Lithuania (0-3), the fourth-place team from Pool A.

Click here to follow Delle Donne's adventures in China through her video diary.

The Buchan-Delle Donne World University Games report

Elena Delle Donne

The Old Dominion duo of Mairi Buchan and Becca Allison each got on the scoreboard, but it wasn't enough in Great Britain's 68-55 loss to Brazil in World University Games pool play Monday in Shenzhen, China. Buchan, who started, had 4 points on 2-of-4 shooting (and 5 turnovers) in 14-plus minutes; Allison made her only field goal attempt and scored 2 points and added 2 assists in 6 minutes as a reserve. Neither Buchan nor Allison scored in Great Britain's WUG opener, a 64-51 win over Slovakia.

Meanwhile, Elena Delle Donne and her U.S. teammates continued rolling through pool play, waxing Slovakia 114-68. Team USA opened the event Sunday with a 112-53 pasting of Brazil that Delle Donne led with a team-high 17 points. Against Slovakia, Delle Donne, who has started both games, posted a double-double (10 points, a game-high 10 rebounds) and was one of six U.S. players in double figures. The Blue Hens star's points came in somewhat unusual fashion - she made 3 of 4 3-pointers but missed all 6 of her 2-pointers. Most surprising of all: Delle Donne made just 1 of 2 free throws. She shot a ridiculous 94.4 from the line for the Blue Hens last season.

Click here to watch Delle Donne's video diary of her adventures in China.

Buchan, Allison and Great Britain will try their luck against the U.S., which if we understand the time difference correctly with go off at 6 a.m. Tuesday.

Buchan returns, Delle Donne shines at World University Games

Mairi Buchan

Old Dominion's Mairi Buchan saw her first meaningful action in more than a year as the World University Games began its week-long women's basketball tournament Saturday in Shenzhen, China.

Buchan started for Great Britain and logged 16 minutes in a 64-51 victory over Slovakia. It was a rusty debut, as Buchan missed all six of her shots from the field, did not have a rebound or assist and turned it over three times. But at least she's back on the court. Injuries had essentially rendered Buchan inactive since the 2010 European U20 Championships last July, as she sat out the entire 2010-11 season for Old Dominion.

Buchan hopes to use this tournament as an audition for a spot on Great Britain's 2012 Olympic team.

ODU's Becca Allison - or Rebecca Ann Allison as she is known in World University Games boxscores - also played for Great Britain and did not score in 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, Delaware star Elena Delle Donne went off on Brazil - and so did most of her teammates - racking up a team-high 17 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists in just 12 minutes in a 112-53 rout. Delle Donne started for the U.S., along with Skylar Diggins, Natalie Novosel, Nnemkadi Ogwumike and Chiney Ogwumike. So let's see, that's Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Stanford, Stanford and...Delaware? Way to represent the CAA, Elena!

The U.S. will take on Slovakia and Great Britain will face Brazil on Sunday (which will actually be Monday in China. The much-anticipated - at least by us - U.S.-Great Britain game follows on Monday (Tuesday in Shenzhen).

Delle Donne makes World University Games cut

Delaware star Elena Delle Donne survived the final World University Games cut and will be part of the 12-player United States team set to compete in the international tournament Aug. 14-21 in Shenzhen, China.

The Blue Hens' 6-5 All-American will be joined by Maryland forward and Woodbridge native Lynetta Kizer, Notre Dame's Skylar Diggins, Natalie Novosel and Devereaux Peters, Stanford sisters Nnemkadi and Chiney Ogwumike, Tennessee's Glory Johnson and Shekinna Stricklen, USC's Jackie Gemelos, DePaul's Keisha Hampton and Baylor's Odyssey Sims.

Delle Donne has been blogging about her adventures and will continue through the tournament.

The final 12 players were selected from the 14 finalists that arrived in Colorado Springs Sunday for a training camp. Miami's Shenise Johnson, the ACC Player of the Year, and Rutgers' April Sykes were cut on Wednesday.

VCU's Courtney Hurt and Georgetown's Sugar Rodgers (King's Fork High in Suffolk) were part of the original 35-player tryout roster.

“Getting the group down to 12 is one of the hardest things I’ve done in my lifetime, in coaching anyway,” said Bill Fennelly, USA World University Games Team and Iowa State University head coach. “You have 14 people who worked very hard at it, who were very committed to it and it’s not something like they weren’t good enough. It’s about trying to build a team with some versatility. It was very, very hard, but I’m very happy for the 12 young people who made it. They’ll do a great job representing USA Basketball and ultimately that’s what this is all about.

“There’s a step to this. When you had 14 there were things you didn’t want to get into, because they may not be here. They were all on a little bit of an edge, because they don’t know if they’re on the team or not. Some kids handle that differently. They play passive because they don’t want to make a mistake. It’s the whole idea of playing not to lose the game rather than playing to win the game. Now, they know they’re on the team and hopefully after their initial excitement, they can relax and refocus on figuring a way to win. We know the combinations, we know the people we’re going to work with now. It is a process, but I think moving from now until we leave the training center, I think we’ll be focused a lot differently on preparing and practicing for the task at hand, getting ready to play and building a team.”

The U.S. team will leave for China on Monday and will open World University Games play on Aug. 14 against Brazil. The USA will then play Slovakia at 10 a.m. on Aug. 15 and Great Britain at 6 a.m. on Aug. 16. Quarterfinals action begins on Aug. 18, with the semifinals and finals on Aug. 19 and 21, respectively.

“This is just an experience that not many people get, so I’m just trying to take it all in,” Delle Donne said. “I’ve never been to China before; getting to go there is incredible. And then to be able to compete for a gold medal is something that is amazing and I can’t wait to do it.”