How UConn freshman Sarah Strong helped Team USA to 11th straight U18 FIBA AmeriCup gold medal

UConn women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma didn’t watch Team USA’s first game at the U18 FIBA AmeriCup against Brazil live, but he immediately broke into a knowing grin when he learned incoming freshman Sarah Strong had hit a first-quarter buzzer-beater from several steps behind the 3-point arc in the 97-51 victory.“She has a habit of doing that,” Auriemma chuckled. “I’ve seen her do that a lot over the last three or four years in high school.”Strong, the No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2024, was already set to join the Huskies as one of the most decorated high school players in the country. The North Carolina native led Grace Christian Academy to three consecutive state championships, averaging 21.3 points, 16.8 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 2.8 blocks per game in her senior season. She was the Naismith High School Player of the Year and co-MVP of the McDonald’s All-American game with USA teammate Joyce Edwards, also leading Grace Christian to a berth in the prestigious Chipotle Nationals tournament. Now, the UConn freshman can also call herself an international gold medalist after helping Team USA to its 11th consecutive U18 AmeriCup victory.“It’s always special, and as I said to the players afterwards, it’s a memory you won’t ever forget,” said U18 coach Teri Moren, who also leads Indiana women’s basketball. “Very few can say that they’ve won a gold medal, and this is a group that can always say that … I think what made this team so good was they were superior in athleticism and length defensively. They just swallowed people up.”Strong is no stranger to success on the world stage: She previously earned a pair of gold medals as a member of the U.S. 3×3 team that won both the 2022 and 2023 U18 World Cup. But the AmeriCup marked her first 5×5 experience since competing at the U19 national team trials in 2023. Strong came off the bench for the stacked USA squad, averaging 7.2 points points, 7.7 rebounds, three assists and 2.2 steals in 14.3 minutes per game. She also shot 33% from 3-point range, making her tournament-high 3-of-7 in the opener against Brazil on June 17.East forward Sarah Strong (21) shoots over West forward Kennedy Smith, left, during the first quarter of the McDonald’s All-American girls’ basketball game Tuesday, April 2, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Kevin M. Cox)The UConn freshman had her best performance in the quarterfinals against the Dominican Republic, leading Team USA with a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds. Strong also logged five assists and three steals, both tournament highs, and it was her most efficient showing shooting 5-for-8 from the field. The 6-foot-2 forward also had a near double-double with 11 points and eight rebounds against Brazil, adding three steals and two blocks on the defensive end.“Her ability to stretch the floor and shoot it with consistency, these were things that she showed in trials and in our training camp,” Moren said. “And her ability to pass the ball — I think one one of the things about Sarah is she’s very unselfish, and that really stands out. She has the ability to shoot it and put a lot of pressure on other fours, but she’s also really unselfish when it comes to making the extra pass, setting up her teammates. I thought she did a tremendous job in this tournament of rebounding. She was really, really good both offensively and defensively, and her ability to be physical around the rim I thought stood out as well.”The U.S. squad put together one of the most dominant performances in the history of the AmeriCup across its six games, outscoring opponents by a combined 628-221. They had an average margin of victory of 67.8 points, and their point total was the most ever scored by an American team at the event. Their closest matchup was in the gold-medal game against Canada on June 23, but Team USA still finished with a comfortable 80-69 win. Strong recorded four assists and two steals in 10 minutes in the final game.“Those first couple of games were tough to get them going because they were winning by so much, so we tried to challenge them as coaches playing a game inside the game,” Moren said. “It was, can we get a shutout? Can we hold a team without scoring for an entire quarter? Can we get this amount of rebounds or get our free-throw percentage up in the second half? … We also watched a lot of film knowing that they’re going to do that at the next level, so the game prep for what we did here is going to be similar to what they’re going to do when they get to their respective institutions. We tried to make the experience here as close to what they’re going to experience when they go to college just to kind of give them a head start.”

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