USA 82, Australia 70 The USA earned its place in the gold
medal game of the 2014 FIBA World Championship with an 82-70 win over Australia. The USA limited Australia, which had come into the game shooting 43.1 percent, to 34.2 percent shooting from the field and finished with a 49-31 rebounding advantage. “We knew going into the game that
it was going to be hard, no matter what the final score was going to be,” said Auriemma. “We knew that we would feel it after the game; that it was going to be a hard-fought, very physical kind of a game. After that first quarter, we did a really, really good job of keeping Australia off the free throw line. I think they were averaging taking 27 free throws a game coming into this game. And I think they attempted 15. They were shooting 27 of them, so we wanted to concentrate a lot on keeping them off the free throw line.” Charles led the USA, which shot
50.8 percent from the field, with 18 points and nine rebounds, and Moore had 16 points, five assists and five rebounds. Taurasi rounded out the USA’s double- digit scorers with 11 points. After two tied scores to start the
game, the lead changed hands five times, and the USA trailed 16-13 at 3:14, before closing the first quarter with a 6-0 run to lead 19-16 at the first break. Moore had seven points in the first 10 minutes, and the U.S. defense held Australia to just 21.1 percent from the field (4-19 FGs). Committing seven of its eventual 20
fouls in the first quarter, the USA helped Australia to shoot 8-of-10 from the line in the first 10 minutes, but only put Australia on the line for five more tries after that. That three-point, first-quarter margin
remained at 5:23 in the second quarter after Australia sank a free throw to make it 26-23. The USA then launched an 8-0 run that included six points from Charles. Australia sank a 3-pointer at 3:29 to end the streak and bring the score to 34-26, but the USA closed with an 8-4 advantage to lead 42-30 at halftime. At the midway point, the USA had a
30-13 rebounding advantage, and while the USA had committed 11 turnovers, compared to Australia's five, its defense
USA Basketball News
had held Australia to just 28.6 per- cent (10-35 FGs) from the field, while it shot 45.6 percent (15-33 FGs). Australia matched every one of
the USA’s eight scores out of the half- time break, but after two 3-pointers from the Aussies and a couple of missed free throws by the USA, the lead was eight points, 52-44 at 5:06. After another U.S. missed free throw and a 3-pointer from Australia, the lead had dwindled to six points, 55-49 at 2:47 when the USA called its first time- out. Remaining on the attack out of the break, the USA shot its way back from the free throw line to a 59-49 lead at 57.7. Australia’s Leilani Mitchell sank her third 3-pointer in the quarter at 45.0 and Augustus scored at 27.4 to head into the fourth quarter with the USA leading 61-52. Overall, Australia outscored the USA 22-19 in the third period. Australia again cut it to six points,
61-55, with a 3-pointer to start the fourth quarter, but Taurasi and Charles scored before the teams traded baskets and Australia called a timeout at 7:38 with the USA leading 67-57. The USA scored nine unanswered points out of the huddle, while Australia missed its one shot attempt and committed three turnovers before calling another timeout at 5:30 with the USA leading 74-57. Australia closed with a 13-8 run
over the last five minutes, but the effort was too little, too late as the USA outscored Australia 21-18 in the final period to earn the 82-70 win. Not only did the U.S. defense stifle
Australia’s shooting percentage, it held a team that had been averaging 81.8 points, 44.5 rebounds and 19.3 assists per game to just 70 points, 31 rebounds and 14 assists.
USA 77, Spain 64 The USA rolled through the 2014
FIBA World Championship undefeated and claimed a second-straight gold medal at the event with a dominating 77-64 win over Spain. “It’s very difficult to win these championships,” said Auriemma, who owns a 57-9 overall slate as a USA head coach. “There’s a lot of great teams and they’re getting better all the time. You can tell by the games and it’s really,
Seimone Augustus was a valuable spark for Coach Auriemma’s golden USA World Championship team,
USA 82, Australia 70 October 4, 2014
USA Bird
Moore
MIN FG FT R A PF PTS 27 1- 2 0- 0 30 3 2 29 7-13 0- 0 55 2 16
Taurasi 27 3- 7 5- 6 32 1 11 Charles 32 7-13 4- 6 93 2 18 Griner
17 3- 5 0- 0 43 5 6
Whalen 13 2- 4 3- 5 50 2 7 Augustus 17 2- 4 0- 0 31 1 4 McCoughtry 11 2- 2 2- 2 31 2 6 Stewart Dupree
1 0- 1 0- 0 10 0 0 7 3- 5 0- 2 30 0 6
Ogwumike 19 1- 5 4- 4 32 2 6 Sims
DNP - Coach’s Decision
Totals 200 31-61 18-25 49 17 20 82 AUS
Taylor Jarry
Lavey
Hodges 18 2- 5 1- 1 003 5 Phillips 31 6-13 4- 4 321 19 Tolo
33 3-10 4- 4 620 10 11 1- 4 0- 0 031 2
Mitchell 19 3- 8 0- 0 112 9 Allen
Richards 1 0- 0 0- 0 000 0 Burton Snell
3 0- 0 0- 0 000 0 14 1- 3 0- 2 503 2
12 2- 6 0- 0 112 5
Francis 14 2- 6 0- 0 202 5 Totals 200 25-73 12-15 31 14 19 70
USA 19 23 19 21 -- 82 Australia 16 14 22 18 -- 70
3PT FGs:-USA (2-8): Moore 2-4, Taurasi 0-3, Charles 0-1; Australia (8-22): Mitchell 3-6, Phillips 3-6, Snell 1-3, Francis 1-3, Hodges 0-1, Lavey 0-2, Taylor 0-1. TO-USA 19, Australia 12; BLKS-USA- 2, Australia 3; STLS-USA 4, Australia 7.
45
MIN FG FT R A PF PTS 22 3-10 2- 2 644 8 22 2- 8 1- 2 311 5
Ned Dishman/NBAE/Getty Images
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