Team USA breaks own U19 record in blowout of Korea behind Sienna Betts, Saniyah Hall

It's safe to say that Team USA's hunt for its fourth consecutive U19 women's basketball gold medal is off to a strong start.

The Americans obliterated Korea 134-53 on Saturday in their opening game of pool play, breaking their own scoring record of 129 points. They first set that mark in 2005, which was also against Korea (129-74), and matched it in 2021 in a 129-45 beatdown of Chinese Taipei.

Forward/center Sienna Betts, The Sporting News' reigning High School Girls Basketball Player of the Year, led the way with 25 points on 11-12 shooting and added six rebounds, four assists, and two blocks in just 18:10 of action. Betts was ranked second in the Class of 2025 at Grandview and is an incoming freshman at UCLA, where she will join her sister and starting center Lauren Betts.

Montverde Academy's Saniyah Hall, another Sporting News 1st Team All-American and the top-ranked rising senior in high school basketball, totaled 23 points, six rebounds, three steals, and three blocks on 8-13 FG. Hall had a game-best plus-minus of +46.

Emilee Skinner led Team USA with seven rebounds and four steals. Her 11 points included the field goals that tied the old record and set the new one.

Jerzy Robinson had 15 points, seven rebounds, and two assists on 6-8 shooting in just over 15 minutes. Jazzy Davidson totaled 10 points, four assists, and three steals. Maddyn Greenway had 10 points, three steals, and five assists, a team-high mark shared with Kate Harpring, who also had five points and six rebounds. Kayleigh Heckel also scored in double figures for Team USA with 12 points and two steals on 4-5 shooting.

Team USA shot 49-80 (61.3%) from the field and 7-14 (50%) from three while holding Korea to 23-69 (33.3%) shooting. The Americans also lapped Korea in the rebounding (56-27) and turnovers (13-30) departments.

5-foot-11 post Yunha Song was the lone bright spot for Korea with 15 points on 7-11 shooting in under 18 minutes of action. The rest of the team totaled 38 points on 16-58 shooting.

Team USA continues Pool A play on Sunday against Hungary.