July 4, 2001

FAIRFAX, Va. - The USA Basketball Women's Junior World Championship Team celebrated the 4th of July with an easy 81-60 win over Brazil in the opening round of the 2001 USA Basketball Junior International Invitational at George Mason University.

Stanford sophomore-to-be Nicole Powell (Phoenix, AZ/Mountain Pointe HS) started at forward for the U.S. and had four points on 2-of-5 shooting. She also had two rebounds (both defensive), two assist, two steals, two fouls and one turnover in 24 minutes of action.

The U.S. jumped out to a 45-24 halftime lead against Brazil and never looked back. In the second round of pool play action, the U.S. will face Japan (1-0) on Thursday at 2:30 p.m. (EDT). In Wednesday's other game at the four-team tournament, Japan defeated China 85-81.