VALDIVIA, Chile – Outscoring Canada 33-14 in the third quarter, the 2016 USA Women's U18 National Team (5-0) took control of its game against Canada (4-1) in the second half on its way to a 109-62 victory and a gold medal at the 2016 FIBA Americas U18 Championship on Sunday night in Valdivia, Chile. Elon women's basketball head coach Charlotte Smith served as one of the USA assistant coaches for the tournament, winning a gold medal with the team.
 
"This was an exciting opportunity," said Smith. "We're just so proud of the team and everything that they accomplished from the beginning of training camp to now. We gelled as a team, and we became better as a team. It's gratifying as a coach to see players get better because ultimately, that's our goal, is to help them get better. It's an unbelievable feeling to walk away with a gold medal, and I'm so proud of Coach Suzie (McConnell-Serio), Coach Kamie (Ethridge) and the team."
 
The gold medal was the USA U18 women's eighth-straight and ninth overall at the event, and the U.S. women are now 53-2 all-time in FIBA Americas U18 Championship play.
 
En route to the gold medal game, USA won Group A after victories over Guatemala (117-32), Brazil (80-59) and Venezuela (110-52) and claimed a 104-36 final against Puerto Rico in the semifinals.
 
As a team, the USA set women's U18 competition records for most field goals attempted (403), most 3-pointers attempted (87) and most rebounds (296).