U.S. women continue hoops dominance, tops Spain 93-55
BEIJING -- Tina Thompson scored nine of her 17 points during a decisive third-quarter run and Lisa Leslie added 14 points and 11 rebounds to help the U.S. beat Spain 93-55 in Olympic women's basketball Friday.
The Americans had won their first three games by an average of 47 points, putting the game away by the half in all the victories. On Friday, the Americans struggled for a half to get rid of Spain turning the ball over a tournament-high 19 times.
Australia, which has lost the gold medal final to the U.S. in the last two Olympics, beat Latvia 96-73 led by Lauren Jackson's 30 points.
In other games Friday, Russia edged Brazil 74-64, the Czech Republic beat New Zealand 90-59 and China routed Mali 69-48.
After a sloppy first half that saw the U.S. make 11 turnovers and only lead by five, the Americans opened the third quarter with a 20-5 run to take control of the game. The U.S. scored the first nine points of the period, including three by Thompson from the foul line when she was fouled hard by Ana Montanana, who was called for a technical foul -- the first of the entire Olympics.
Tamika Catchings' putback with 2:53 left in the period gave the U.S. a 59-39 advantage. Spain closed within 16 to start the fourth quarter before the Americans went on a 13-0 run to put the game away.
Candace Parker added 13 points and Diana Taurasi had 12 for the U.S. (4-0).
Amaya Valdemoro led Spain (2-2) with 17 points.
The U.S. got a brief scare when Leslie left early in the period with an apparent injury. She was stretched on the sidelines by team trainer Ed Ryan before returning later in the period.
With the win, the U.S. has 29 straight victories in Olympic contests. The last loss was to the Unified team in the 1992 semifinals.
Latvia provided the stiffest challenge so far for Australia, playing tough for the first half before the winners went on a 21-8 run to start the third quarter. Penny Taylor scored seven straight points during the spurt as Australia extended a three-point lead to 16.
Jackson hit two 3-pointers to close out the quarter and give Australia a 76-56 lead.
"She was really unbelievable," Taylor said of her teammate. "She lifted us when we were struggling offensively."
The Latvians would get no closer than 16 in the fourth quarter.
Suzy Batkovic added 18 points and Taylor had 11 points and 11 rebounds for Australia (4-0), which has a showdown with Russia (4-0) on Sunday for the top spot in the pool. The Russians also struggled in their 74-64 victory against winless Brazil.
Trailing by two after three quarters, Russia opened the fourth with a 17-6 run to take a 71-62 lead with 2:05 left in the game. Brazil would get no closer than seven the rest of the way.
"We've been struggling, but have been finding ways to win," said Svetlana Abrosimova, who scored six points in the victory.
The Czech Republic (2-2) clinched a berth in the quarterfinals with its win. They jumped on New Zealand (1-3) in the first quarter taking a 26-12 lead and extended the advantage to 65-38 after three periods.