BELGRADE, Serbia -- ASU head coach Charli Turner Thorne led team USA to the Gold medal in the 2009 USA Women’s World University Games. Team USA finishes a perfect 7-0 after beating Russia (6-1) 83-64 on Saturday afternoon in Belgrade, Serbia.
A monster 28-point, 18-rebound performance from Tina Charles (Connecticut / Jamaica, N.Y.) helped USA win the Gold
“I’m really proud of this team,” said USA and Arizona State University head coach Charli Turner Thorne. “They stayed tough, kept working hard. These are some of the best college players in the country, and they showed it tonight. That Russian team has been playing together for years. I coached against them two years ago (at the 2007 FIBA U21 World Championship). For these young ladies to come together in a couple of weeks, be so responsive to what we asked them to do as coaches, to give everything they have for their country, that was awesome.”
For Turner Thorne, it is her second time earning a gold medal with USA Basketball. In 2007 Turner Thorne served as an assistant coach on USA Basketball’s U21 World Championship Team that won gold at the 2007 FIBA U21 World Championship in Moscow, Russia. That team also went undefeated (8-0).
