Delle Donne and Team USA moved to 2-0 in preliminary round play Monday by trouncing Spain 103-63.
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Spain happened to be that troubled team on Monday.
Helped by two 3-pointers, Spain led 8-6 after just 2:48 of play, but the United States of America put together seven unanswered points to go ahead 13-8 on a 3 from Sue Bird (Seattle Storm) with 5:17 on the clock. The USA’s 40-point win was the first time since 2004 that the US women recorded consecutive 100-point games in Olympic play after setting a US women’s Olympic scoring record with a 121-56 blowout of Senegal on August 7.
“I think once we settled down, made our adjustments to the way they were calling the game, the way that Venezuela wanted to play the game, that second quarter we picked it up defensively and turned it around”, Anthony said.
“That’s the pressure we can put on teams, everybody we bring in off the bench can score and make a play”.
For starters, the women’s team hasn’t lost a game since 1992, a moment in time that pre-dates the birth of some of you reading this. “Physically, they play in another rhythm, another speed”.
The four-time NCAA champion leads the USA with 12 free throw attempts. The Olympic newcomer got her first playing time of the tournament and scored five straight points as Spain trailed 54-37 at the half.
Alba Torrens scored a game-high 20 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists for Spain in the loss.
“The game of basketball, everything’s not going to be easy”, Durant said. Every team is trying to win. They have great players. “We just have to work on a couple things on defense and rebounding and we’ll be better”.
Diana Taurasi, unsurprisingly, led the way for the Americans in their historically dominant showing, notching 15 points on exclusively three-point shots.
The game was closer than the last, but the United States of America put on another stellar performance to win by 40 points – 103-63.
This team is so good offensively that reigning WNBA MVP Elena Delle Donne comes off the bench and Tamika Catchings is the 12th player. Bird and Tina Charles (New York Liberty) each distributed five assists.
The U.S. followed up their drubbing of Senegal in their opener with a less ruthless but no less clinical 103-63 dissection of third-ranked Spain on Monday, blowing out a team viewed by many as a legitimate medal contender. Japan also is 2-0 after beating Brazil 82-66.
The top four finishing teams from each preliminary round group advance to the quarterfinals on August 16.
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The semifinals will be played on August 18, and the finals are on August 20.
