“But beating the United States is nearly impossible”. “And the minute you stop there’s no let-off”.
Advertisement
And again, the Americans regained their composure and knocked off a world power at the Olympics, claiming their second straight win against a top-three team in women’s field hockey by beating No. 3 Australia 2-1 on Monday. Delle Donne was in the middle of it. You’re talking about 100 points – you’ve got to be able to score.
Download the Team USA app today for breaking news, 2016 U.S. Olympic Team bios, videos and more.
The third day of Olympic competition featured a couple of notable firsts: Rafaela Silva captured host Brazil’s initial gold medal of the Rio Games and fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad became the only American ever to compete in the Olympics wearing a hijab.
Spain (1-1) led 8-6 before the USA closed the quarter on a 23-6 burst. The Spaniards couldn’t get within single digits the rest of the way.
Five players on the national team and head coach Geno Auriemma have ties to the University of CT where the women’s game has strong support. “It’s fun to watch. For as little time as we had together, we do a lot of really nice things out there which is nice to see”.
While the United States of America had balanced scoring in the second period, including points from eight different players – led by six points from Angel McCoughtry (Atlanta Dream), Spain made three 3-pointers in the quarter and had a total of nine offensive boards by halftime to keep the US from putting the game any further out of reach.
They weren’t disappointed as the DE native finished with 12 points and four rebounds.
“I think we came out and did exactly that”, Sylvia Fowles said in a television interview after the game.
Auriemma is grateful for the chance to coach some of his former players at the Olympic Games: “They have the same names and they’re the same people, but they’re not the same players that they were when they played for me”.
“We did a good job today”, said Taurasi, who led the United States of America with 13 points.
Bird ensured there would be some tough lessons Spain could take away. Playing in her fourth Olympics, Bird started the second half with a steal and then raced down the court for the layup.
Breanna Stewart (right) and Brittney Griner (center) high-five Diana Taurasi after scoring during Team USA’s win over Spain. This time they wouldn’t be drowned out.
Advertisement
The U.S. women continue preliminary round play against Serbia at 2:30 p.m. on Aug. 10, followed by Canada at 2:30 p.m. on Aug. 12 and a final preliminary round game against China at 11:15 a.m. on Aug. 14.
