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The USA defeated Spain 103-63, improving to 2-0 in group play.
Diana Taurasi and the USA women’s basketball team opened their Olympics with a record rout.
By the end of Sunday’s game, every player on the US had scored and seven were in the double-digits.
First-time Olympians Brittney Griner, Elena Delle Donne and Stewart all had their first taste of the Games. They followed that up with 23 against Spain.
Should the USA make a medal game, as they are expected to do, they would have six games remaining. They have to have a really, really bad game for us to have a chance to win it.
In Group A, Australia outlasted Turkey 61-56 with Elizabeth Cambage scoring 22 points and grabbing 11 rebounds for the 2-0 Opals.
“Everyone we bring in off the bench can score and make a play”, USA coach Geno Auriemma said.
And to top it all off, the women’s team broke another record with the largest margin of victory in U.S. Olympics’ history at +65 (previously at +60). After knocking down four triples in the first quarter of the first game against Senegal, it looked like Taurasi might take care of business right then and there. “I said, ‘Look, if I know I’m not ready and the knee’s swelling up, I’m pulling the pin.’ And they said fine, we trust you”.
The U.S. squad has won five straight gold medals. She finished Sunday’s game with 15 points, all three-pointers, and provided some of the best footwork in the women’s game en route.
The U.S. outscored Spain 49-26 in the second half, which ensured victory.
Taurasi and veterans Tamika Catchings and Sue Bird – who had seven assists going into the half – join the 2016 powerhouse team for the trio’s fourth consecutive Olympic appearance- something unprecedented in itself.
Alba Torrens, who led Spain with 20 points, added, “There is nearly nothing impossible”. “We got off to a nice start”. And while Spain racked up 14 offensive rebounds, Team USA also had 16 offensive boards and won the rebounding battle by 14.
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Offensively, she added, the team’s timing and rhythm aren’t where she’d like them to be. You’d expect there to be a struggle to share the ball as 12 superstars join forces, but there’s been no such issue for the Americans. The US shot almost 65 percent from the field while limiting Senegal to just 35.2%.
