TOKYO, Japan – Lady Topper Basketball Head Coach and United States U23 National Team assistant coach Michelle Clark-Heard claimed her first championship at the international level on Tuesday morning, assisting the United States to a 103-71 victory over host Japan in the decisive game of the inaugural Four Nations Tournament.
The win pushed Clark-Heard's career record in competitive matchups at the international level to 7-1; in 2015, Clark-Heard was an assistant at the Pan American Games and helped the United States to a silver medal finish. With the U23 National Team in Japan, she and Princeton coach Courtney Banghart served as assistants under Louisville coach Jeff Walz.
Asia Durr (12.7), Kelsey Mitchell (11.0) and Sabrina Ionescu (10.3) each averaged double figures in scoring for the United States. Mercedes Russell was the team's leading rebounder at 6.3 boards per game, and Mitchell and Jordin Canada each dished out four assists per outing for the Americans.
In its three games in the Four Nations Tournament, the United States posted an average margin of victory of 32 points, including a 46-point win (107-61) in its second game against Canada. The United States also defeated Australia, 78-60, in its opening game on Aug. 12.
The 2017 Four Nations Tournament provided meaningful competition and development opportunities. The United States' participation in the tournament was intended to help further develop the USA Basketball athlete pipeline and to help prepare athletes for possible future participation in the USA Basketball Women's National Team pool.
In five seasons as the head coach at WKU, Clark-Heard has led the Lady Toppers to three conference tournament championships and NCAA appearances and a 130-39 (.769) overall record. For the first time in program history, WKU has had three consecutive 27-win seasons over the last three years, including a school-record 30 victories during the 2014-15 campaign. Since joining C-USA prior to that season, Clark-Heard and the Lady Toppers own a 47-7 (.870) overall mark in conference play and have dropped no more than three games in C-USA play in a single season.
The Lady Toppers are coming off a 27-7 season in 2016-17 that saw them sweep both the C-USA regular season and tournament championships. WKU squared off against Ohio State in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament in Lexington, Ky., and nearly pulled off the upset over the fifth-seeded Buckeyes, falling in a tight 70-63 decision. WKU returns two of its top three scorers (Ivy Brown and Tashia Brown) for the 2017-18 campaign as it looks to continue its strong run of success under Clark-Heard.
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