Maybe its because injured guard Sue Bird was able to participate.
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Like so many games over so many seasons, UConn players seized control and sprinted away from an opponent.
The gold medal encounter will give Spain another chance to prevail over the Americans, after Lucas Mondelo’s team went down to a 77-64 defeat to the US squad at the last World games in Turkey and Team USA rolled over Spain 103-63 in the preliminary matchups in Rio.
Yoshida was trying to become the second woman to ever win four Olympic gold medals in a single event across four Summer Games, and the second wrestler to win four Olympic golds.
With the starting point guard sidelined with a knee injury Thursday night, the USA was out of sorts for a half before getting it together to pull away from France in an 86-67 win in the semifinals.
The U.S. will play Spain on Saturday for a shot at their sixth straight Olympic title.
It looks like the US will have Bird back for the title tilt.
American captain Sue Bird did not suit up after spraining her right knee on Tuesday against Japan.
While fans missed seeing the veteran Bird on the court, her teammates felt her absence as well. After taking part in practice, Bird went through a hard workout when it was finished to test the right knee. “I think that’s a sign of a true champion, someone who loves the game and plays for the right reasons”.
“To be honest, yesterday I didn’t feel unbelievable, but I woke up today feeling better, and I’m just hoping for the best tomorrow”, said Bird, who has had five previous surgeries on her left knee but no issues with her right knee until now. I can be happy with the way things have been going. It was good to kind of get everything out, go up against each other, get after each other a little bit today.
She hit one of her best shots with a 7-iron to advance it down the fairway, and then did even better with a hybrid from 199 yards to 4 feet for her 63. “I think the attitude and example they set is probably one that the next group is going to benefit from more than anything else”. “Our team isn’t built around one person, it’s built around 12”, she said. “They’re one of the top teams every year, and we know that”. “I’m not going to do anything stupid”.
Before the women’s competition began, US coach Geno Auriemma said, “They know exactly what’s in front of them”.
“It’s not like that”, Auriemma said, “and our players really found out [Thursday] that without Sue it’s certainly not going to be like that”.
The USA came out with renewed focus after halftime, pushing its lead to 13 points and forcing France to call a timeout at 3:57 with the USA leading 56-43. The Americans also beat Spain in the 2014 world championship title game.
RIO DE JANEIRO – Leaning over, hands on her knees and cheering at every chance, injured US star Foluke Akinradewo could only watch.
They are really, really good, Diana Taurasi said.
Until Thursday, the 35-year-old had played 28 of the last 30 Olympic games for the USA team stretching back to 2004.
Those questions were answered in the form of a 105-78 rout against Argentina as the US extended their Olympic winning streak to 23 games. Of those, just one was decided by fewer than 10 points.
“You find different inspirations from different people”, said Taurasi. “Every quarter that we stepped on the court, we respected the game, we respected each other and we did everything we needed to do to deserve this gold”.
Diana Taurasi had 18 points for the United States while Maya Moore added 15.
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While the Americans looked discombobulated early on without her – France trailed only 40-34 at the half – they eventually overcame Bird’s absence like they’ve overcome everything else in this tournament, relying on their experience and depth of talent to run away to a gratifying 86-67 win, their smallest margin of victory in the tournament.
