U.S. cruises into worlds semis with rout of S. Korea
KARLOVY VARY, Czech Republic -- Angel McCoughtry and Maya Moore sat in the stands watching Russia lose in an upset. The two young stars wanted to make sure that wouldn't happen to the U.S.
McCoughtry scored 17 points and Moore added 15 to help the United States rout South Korea 106-44 Friday and advance to the semifinals of the women's basketball world championship.
"We saw the end of the game and the group I was sitting with was like 'we're not going to have that happen to us,'" Moore said. "Every team that is still here is playing for a reason."
Candice Dupree added 12 points and Swin Cash 11 for the undefeated U.S. (7-0), which had six players in double figures en route to one of the most lopsided victories in worlds history.
The U.S. team will take on the winner of France and Spain on Saturday.
"We don't look at the score," McCoughtry said. "We just try to get better every game and string together good quarters."
The only suspense left in the fourth quarter was whether the United States would reached 100 points for the 16th time in world championship play and achieve its most lopsided victory.
Asjha Jones' jumper with 2:01 left gave the Americans 101 points, but they fell short of the 70-point win over Senegal in 1990.
The U.S. will get a chance to redeem an early exit at the last worlds, losing in the semifinals to Russia.
"We're very happy with the win and we're really excited to be in the semis regardless of who we play," U.S. coach Geno Auriemma said. "It's going to be a great game."
The U.S. scored 19 of the first 25 points. Lim Yung Hui had 10 points to lead South Korea (3-4), which advanced to the quarterfinals by finishing fourth in its group.
"I thought the beginning of the game we knew we had a big advantage over them size-wise and quickness-wise," Auriemma said.
This was the first meeting between South Korea and the U.S. at the worlds since 2002. The two teams played in the quarterfinals of the 2008 Olympics and the Americans won 104-60.
Friday's matchup wasn't much different as the U.S. took it right at the Koreans.
"We felt at a lower level than our rival," South Korea center Kim Kwe Ryong said through a translator. "In this case it was a psychological aspect which was against us, which was very difficult for us."
Diana Taurasi got the team rolling, scoring seven points during the opening run. Her three-point play made it 17-6 midway through the quarter. Auriemma put in his second unit and they kept up the torrid offense.
After Sin Jung-Ja hit a jumper to cut Korea's deficit to 11, the U.S. closed the quarter on a 10-3 run to go up by 19.
"We didn't want to start the game and not be ready 100 percent. The starting five was great, set a tone and everyone added to it," Auriemma said.
The U.S., which had won by an average of 33 points at the worlds, led by 26 at the half.
Unlike Wednesday's win over Australia where the U.S. struggled in the second half, the Americans steamrolled Korea in the third quarter. They scored the first 10 points, including six by Dupree. Cash's three-point play made it 61-25. It only got worse for Korea as the U.S. scored six straight layups.
Moore's strong baseline drive for a three-point play to end the period gave the U.S. an 83-29 advantage.
"We talked about it in the locker room how we wanted to come out strong in the third quarter," Moore said.