really difficult. For us to be able to do that, even though everybody expects us to do it, that doesn’t make it easier. Yesterday’s Australia’s game and today’s game against Spain were perfect examples of how difficult this is to win. “I’m really proud of our team.
These guys make a great sacrifice, because they just finished playing in their own league, in the WNBA, and a lot of them are getting ready to go play in Europe. So, it’s a tremendous sacrifice that they made for their country, and I can’t be more proud of them.”
Moore led five U.S. players in
double-digit scoring with 18 points, Whalen scored 12 points, Griner added 11 points, Charles finished with 10 points and eight rebounds and Augustus also tallied 10 points. The USA jumped to a 15-5 lead
that included eight points from Moore, who made two 3-pointers in the first
USA 77, Spain 64 October 5, 2014
USA Bird
Moore
MIN FG FT R A PF PTS 22 0- 3 0- 0 132 0 27 7-12 0- 0 423 18
Taurasi 27 3- 8 0- 0 481 6 Charles 29 5- 7 0- 0 843 10 Griner
22 4- 6 3- 5 402 11
Whalen 17 5- 6 2- 3 220 12 Augustus 17 3- 5 4- 4 611 10 McCoughtry 9 1- 5 0- 0 200 2 Sims
Stewart Dupree
ESP
2 0- 0 0- 0 001 0 3 0- 0 0- 0 001 0 9 3- 4 0- 0 204 6
Ogwumike 16 1- 3 0- 0 301 2 Totals 200 32-59 9-12 40 20 19 77
MIN FG FT R A PF PTS
Nicholls 38 5-16 0- 0 11 23 10 Torrens 26 4-14 0- 0 00 2 10 Palau
Xargay 25 1- 9 0- 0 22 2 2 Lyttle
18 2- 4 1- 2 42 2 6 36 6-18 3- 3 11 43 16
Romero 2 0- 0 0- 0 00 2 0 Dominguez 16 1- 4 3- 4 01 1 6 Rodriguez 4 1- 1 0- 0 11 0 3 Martinez 8 0- 2 0- 0 21 0 0 Gil
Pascua Cruz
Spain
4 0- 0 0- 0 00 0 0 1 0- 0 0- 0 00 1 0 22 5-13 0- 0 41 3 11
Totals 200 25-81 7-9 42 14 19 64 USA
28 20 19 10 -- 77 17 12 19 16 -- 64
3PT FGs-USA (4-11): Moore 4-6, Augustus 0-1, Taurasi 0-3, Bird 0-1; Spain (7-22): Torrens 2-5, Palau 1-2, Lyttle 1-3, Cruz 1-2, Dominguez 1-2, Rodriguez 1-1; Martinez 0-2, Xargay 0-3, Nicholls 0-2. TO-USA 20, Spain 12; BLKS-USA 1, Spain 1; STLS-USA 9, Spain 8.
46
3-pointer that made it 44-21 at 4:16, Spain made a six-point run, but Griner ended that with two made free throws at 2:15 to bring the score to 46-27. Each team added two more points, and the USA headed to the halftime locker room ahead by 19 points, 48-29. The U.S. defense continued to
stifle Spain, which was shooting just 26.8 percent (11-41 FGs) at the midway point. Meanwhile, the USA was shooting 60.6 per- cent (20-33 FGs) and had record- ed 15 assists, including seven from Taurasi, who finished with eight assists in the game. Spain scored first to start the
Longtime USA veteran Diana Taurasi was back in uniform at the 20214 World Championship and averaged 8.8 points and a team-best 4.5 assists in the USA’s six games.
two minutes of the game, and Spain called a timeout at 6:06. Though Moore hit a third 3 out of the timeout to put the USA up 18-5, Spain worked its way back within seven points with a 3-pointer at 3:05 that made it 20-13. Whalen scored the last four points of
the quarter to give the USA a 28-17 lead at the first break. Charles also helped the USA get off to a hot start with eight first- quarter points, and she finished with 10 points and eight rebounds. For a third-straight night, the USA
also started off the game with stellar shooting, making 70.6 percent of its shots (12-17 FGs), while holding Spain to just 35.0 percent (7-20 FGs), though the USA did give up seven offensive boards. “We started out really well, and we
kept it going,” Whalen said. “It was a really great effort by everybody. Everybody did what they do. It was a great win. Spain is a great team. They fought hard. They had a really tough game last night against the host team in Turkey, so we wanted to come out and jump on them as early as possible.” The USA added 11 unanswered
points to start the second period to bring the run to a 15-0 stretch and take a 39-17 lead at 6:21. After Moore’s fourth
second half, but the USA contin- ued to improve upon its lead. A 6-0 stretch put the USA ahead 56-33 at 6:37, and after a 3-point- er from Spain and four points from the USA, Spain called a timeout at 4:25 with the USA up 24 points, 60-36. Helped along
by two 3-pointers, however, Spain outscored the USA 12-7 from there to head into the final 10 minutes again trailing by 19-points, 67-48. The USA held Spain scoreless for
the first 4:14 of the final quarter and led 71-50, but Spain closed with a 14-6 scoring advantage before the buzzer sounded on the USA’s 77-64 win. Spain’s second-leading scorer Alba
Torrens, who came into the game averaging 16.6 points per contest, didn’t score until 4:08 in the third quarter and finished with 10 points, and its leading scorer Sandro Lyttle, who was scoring 18.6 points per game, finished with a team-high 16 points in the game.
Augustus rounded out the USA’s
double-digit scorers with 10 points. The U.S. defense never let Spain
break free and held its opponent to 30.9 percent (25-81 FGs) shooting and put Spain on the line for just eight tries.
“We got off to a great start,” Bird
said. “I mean, Maya came out hitting. We really did execute our game plan almost to a T, and it just got us going, and we were able to get that lead and hold on long enough.”
USA Basketball News
Ned Dishman/NBAE/Getty Images
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