Well-rounded game from USC's Kennedy Smith has Team USA on brink of AmeriCup gold

So far 6-0 in Chile, USC's Kennedy Smith is now a win away from earning a gold medal with Team USA during this year's Women's AmeriCup tournament. During the 65-53 semi-final win over Canada, the Trojan played a large part on both ends of the court during Saturday's action. To this point it has been a successful competition, and the latest victory in particular highlighted the overall ability of the guard.

Smith simply makes plays any time that she steps onto the court.

Against Canada, the attention for Smith was more so on the defensive end. It has to also be remembered that scoring tends to be divided differently at the FIBA level, and in general points can be more difficult to come by.

Still, Smith finished the outing with an efficient 2-3 from the floor, including a drained three off the initial hesitation move that ended up seeing the Trojan finish with seven points. Smith also added two rebounds and an assist to her tally.

Defensively, Smith gave the Canadian team fits every time she checked into the action. With three blocks, including an emphatic defensive effort during the closing stages in the fourth, she played a large part in Canada only managing to shoot 25.7% from the floor as a team.

Smith's activity, particularly as a guard to still contest by getting through screens, allowed her to have a large impact during the game, and the USC sophomore finished with an impressive +/- of +15, which tied for the second highest for the winning side.

Final game for USC guard and Team USA

For Team USA's Sunday game, which is scheduled for 5:10 PT and will be streamed on Courtside 1891, the final will be a chance to cap off what has been an outstanding summer display from this collective that has come together in short order very nicely.

Their final test will be against Brazil, who are also unbeaten to this point and feature Kamilla Cardoso down low. Something is going to have to give, but this Team USA roster has the quality and depth to round out the competition with the stated goal of securing a gold medal in South America.