great defensive player. That’s one thing that everyone takes a lot of pride in.” The USA struggled with its shoot-
ing from the field in the first quarter, making just one shot in its first seven tries. Canada fared much worse, committing seven turnovers in the first stanza and four in the first two minutes alone.
Fouled on a 3-pointer, Taurasi
sank her free throws and Moore nailed a three at 7:34 to put the USA in the lead 6-2. Each team scored once more before the USA put together an 11-0 run to lead 19-4 after a fast break bucket from McCoughtry off of a Taurasi assist. Canada ended the first period
scoring the final four points to cut the advantage to 19-8 at the first break. Catchings scored six points for the
USA in the first four minutes to counter four from Canada, and the scoreboard read 25-12 at 6:14.
USA 91, Canada 48 August 7, 2012
CAN MIN FG FT R A PF PTS
Phillips 23 1-6 0-0 851 2 Gabriele 17 1-4 0-0 340 2 Pilypaitis 20 2-4 0-0 211 6 Smith Aubry
29 5-11 0-0 602 13 18 4-6 2-2 201 10
Thorburn 25 1-6 0-0 231 2 Ayim
Tatham
8 0-1 0-0 100 0 9 0-3 2-2 001 2
Achonwa 13 0-5 4-6 210 4 Murphy 16 1-4 1-2 214 3 Tatham 14 1-2 0-0 103 2 Plouffe
8 0-1 2-2 003 2
Totals 200 16-53 11-14 31 15 17 48 USA
Bird Moore
Catchings 21 4-8 1-2 620 9 Taurasi 23 5-7 4-4 340 15 Charles 12 1-6 0-0 422 2 Whalen 17 1-4 3-3 121 5 Augustus 21 3-8 3-4 330 9 McCoughtry 15 5-7 1-2 521 11 Jones Cash
Fowles Parker
USA
11 0-3 0-0 101 0 12 0-1 3-4 320 3 9 4-7 4-4 403 12 13 6-8 0-0 732 12
Totals 200 35-74 19-23 48 29 12 91 Canada
8 13 10 17 -- 48 19 23 26 23 -- 91
3PT FGs-Canada (5-18): Smith 3-6, Pilypaitis 2-3, Murphy 0-1, Plouffe 0-1, Thorburn 0-3, Aubry 0-2, Tatham 0-1, Gabriele 0-1; USA (2-9): Taurasi 1-2, Moore 1-2, Augustus 0-2, Bird 0-2, McCoughtry 0-1; TO-Canada 26, USA 10; BLKS- Canada 0, USA 5; STLS- Canada 3, USA 15.
50
MIN FG FT R A PF PTS 21 1-4 0-0 152 2 25 5-11 0-0 740 11
First-time Olympian Lindsay Whalen scored six straight points in the USA’s semifinal victory over Australia and finished the Games averaging 8.0 ppg. and 2.4 apg.
From there, due to the relentless
U.S. defense, Canada managed just two field goals, including one 3-pointer and a runner to beat the buzzer, as well as four free throws. Meanwhile, the U.S. offense put up 17 points, including a streak of nine unanswered to head to the locker room at halftime leading 42-21. In the second half the USA pounded
the ball inside, and it paid off huge. One of the USA’s largest runs of the game came in the third quarter, a 16-0 spurt that began with a driving three-point play from Taurasi at 4:27 and ended with free throws from Augustus at 37.9 with the USA in control 66-28. Canada made a shot from behind the arc before McCoughtry sank a jumper at the buzzer to help the U.S. head into the fourth quarter leading 68-31. Canada managed its highest scoring
period in the fourth, but those 17 points were nearly equaled by another 16-0 U.S. run. After four points from Fowles, the scoreboard read 73-40 at 7:53. Fowles scored six more points during the red, white and blue’s streak that resulted in its largest lead of the game, 89-40, with a fast break bucket from Augustus at 2:46. Canada ended the run with a score at 2:02 and then sank two 3-pointers to help cut it to 91-48 as the buzzer sounded.
USA 86, Australia 73 Trailing by four points at
halftime, 47-43, the U.S. buckled down on the defensive side in the second half to rally for a hard-fought 86-73 win against Australia. The win advanced the Americans into the gold medal game. “I thought the game was
played exactly the way we
thought it was going to be played in terms of the intensity level and physical level of the game and how hard both teams were going to compete,” said Auriemma. “We have played a lot of basketball in the last month, and I don’t think anyone has played better against us than Australia did in the first half. That was an impressive display of basketball, and we had no answer for that. It was incredible what they did to us. I really have a lot of admiration for them and tremendous amount of respect for them and their coaching staff. “I am really proud of the way we
responded in the second half, how we came back and did some things that USA Basketball is known for. I am really proud of my players.” The USA was led by 14 points on
8-of-9 shooting from the free throw line by three-time Olympian Taurasi, and 14 points, 10 rebounds and four assists by Charles. Bird made 6-of-8 shots from the field for 13 points, and Catchings grabbed eighth rebounds to go with her seven points. After allowing Australia’s 6’8”
forward Elizabeth Cambage 19 first-half points, the USA held her scoreless in the second half and cooled off Australia’s 60.6 percent (20-33 FGs) shooting from the field in the first 20 minutes to just 26.5 percent (9-34 FGs) after the mid- way point. The USA’s halftime deficit marked
the first time the American women had trailed at halftime in Olympic play since lagging behind Russia in the third game of the 2000 Olympics. “You have to give credit to
Australia,” Taurasi said. “They played tough. They played physical. They get in your way. They do a lot of stuff. In the second half, we did a better job of
USA Basketball News
Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE/Getty Images
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