UConn's Megan Walker delivers as U.S. advances to FIBA U19 title game

Megan Walker averaging 8.8 points, 3.8 rebounds, 1.3 assists for U.S.

UConn incoming freshman Megan Walker had 11 points and four rebounds while Crystal Dangerfield finished with three points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals as the six-time defending champion United States squad defeated Japan 73-66 in the FIBA U19 World Cup semifinals.

Walker beat the buzzer with a 3-pointer and also had an offensive rebound and putback with 26 seconds remaining in the first half as the U.S. took a 47-33 lead into the locker room at halftime.

University of Oregon star Ruthy Hebard had 18 of her game-high 24 points in the first half. She finished with 14 rebounds. Texas A&M incoming freshman Chennedy Carter had 19 points and seven rebounds while South Carolina's Tyasha Harris had 10 points and six assists.

The U.S. will play Russia in Sunday's championship game as Russia rolled to a 65-41 win over Canada in the other semifinals behind 22 points and 16 rebounds from captain Raisa Musina. The game will start at 3 p.m. The semifinal game was available on ESPN3 so hopefully the story is the same for the gold-medal game.

Also, a pair of New Haven Register 2016-17 All-State selections led Puerto Rico to its first win of the tournament.

Former New London High School star India Pagan had 26 points, 15 rebounds, four assists, a steal and two blocked shots while Capital Prep graduate Angelique Rodriguez had 14 points, six rebounds and four assists in a 77-71 win over Korea. Puerto Rico will play Mali with the winner finishing in 13th place. Rodriguez, an incoming freshman at Pittsburgh, is averaging a team-leading 14.5 points per game while connecting on 20 of Puerto Rico's 42 3-pointers. Pagan, headed to Stony Brook, is averaging 8.7 points and a team-beat 6.8 rebounds per game.