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The Opals offense started hot, piling up 29 points in the first quarter and 50 by halftime, with Australia taking a lead as large as 23 points. Brazil proved resilient after halftime. Aided by foul trouble from the Opals frontcourt, Brazil held Australia to 11 points in the third quarter to rally back within 12. The deficit was in single-digits much of the fourth quarter, leaving the door open to a comeback until former Storm center Suzy Batkovic slammed it shut. With Brazil down eight, 73-65, Batkovic rattled off seven straight points while the Opals defense shut Brazil out the rest of the way.
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Lauren Jackson to 22 minutes. Even when she was in the game, Jackson was held in check by a Brazilian front line of Storm center 
Kelly Santos and Ega Zakrzeski, getting just eight shot attempts. Jackson scored 10 points and grabbed four rebounds. On the other end, Santos was dominant. She scored 21 points, shooting 5-of-9 from the field and going to the free-throw line a remarkable 16 times. Santos added 10 boards for the double-double and handed out three assists without a turnover in one of the Olympics' most impressive individual performances.
With Jackson relatively quiet, the Opals showcased their frontcourt depth. It was backup post Laura Summerton who led the team in scoring with 18 points on 5-of-7 shooting in 21 minutes. Batkovic scored 10 and Penny Taylor (11), giving Australia four forwards and centers in double-figures for the second straight game. Kristi Harrower offered rare scoring punch from the point, knocking down all three of her three-point attempts en route to 15 points. Harrower also handed out five assists and had only one turnover in 30 minutes of action.
While Brazil showed promise after a disappointing loss to South Korea in their Olympic opener, the loss dropped them to 0-2 and a tie with Latvia at the bottom of Group A. Brazil may have to win two of their last three games against Belarus, Latvia, and Russia to advance to the medal rounds. 2-0 Australia is tied with Russia atop Group A.
UNITED STATES 108, CHINA 63
Two games into the Olympics, the only sign of weakness shown by the U.S. women has been slow starts. By the end of a blowout victory, those minor missteps have been long forgotten. This time, host China rode a vociferous home crowd to an 11-10 lead nearing the midway point of the first quarter. The USA quickly dashed any Chinese hopes of an upset, holding China scoreless the remainder of the period and going on a 23-0 run before the first-quarter buzzer sounded. By halftime, the U.S. lead was 34 and the rout was on in what became a 108-63 final.
Tina Thompson was the key to the American onslaught, scoring 19 points in the first half alone. She finished with 27, tied for the fourth-most by a USA player in Olympic competition and the high for the Olympics thus far. The red-hot Thompson shot 10-of-14 from the field and the U.S. shot 56.8 percent as a team.
"Tonight Tina was on fire and we were able to get a lot of stops, and from those stops we were able to score," said Storm point guard 
Sue Bird. "I think the combination of those two things really got us going offensively. And it's fun when you're in an environment like this when the crowd is really into it and you're playing well. I mean this is the Olympics, you've got to have fun."
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With all 12 players seeing at least 13 minutes of action, every USA player scored. Sylvia Fowles was the team's other high scorer, posting 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting and eight rebounds in 17 minutes. Even in limited action, Lisa Leslie recorded her second straight double-double with 10 points and 10 boards.
Overall, U.S. Head Coach Anne Donovan liked what she saw from her team.
"We were excited to play this game," Donovan said. "We knew that the Chinese fans were going to be loud and strong as they were last night as they were last night with the men’s game. So we were excited to come in and feel that energy in Wukesong and it was not disappointing. I thought that we set tempo very quickly and followed through for the 40 minutes. So, pleased with the effort."
ELSEWHERE ...
Spain 85, New Zealand 62 - Spain held the Tall Ferns to seven first-quarter points, but New Zealand kept it reasonably competitive thereafter and went to the fourth quarter down just 13. Stanford post Jillian Harmon had a great game for New Zealand, scoring 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting. Isabel Sanchez and Anna Montanana combined for 37 for Spain, though Amaya Valdemoro continues to struggle.
Russia 77, South Korea 72 - The Russians survived another scare, trailing 72-70 with 2:47 to play before holding Korea scoreless the rest of the way. Despite the loss, it's been an impressive start for South Korea, which beat Brazil in OT on Saturday.
Czech Republic 81, Mali 47 - At the end of the first quarter, the score was Czech Republic 23, Mali 4. And that's about all you need to know about how this one went. To add injury to insult, Mali star Hamchetou Maiga-Bä suffered an ankle injury during the third quarter, though it is not believed to be serious.
Belarus 79, Latvia 57 - An unexpectedly dominant win for Belarus to even its record after an opening loss to the Opals. Yelena Leuchanka had 22 to lead four players in double-figures. Outside of Liene Jansone, Anete Jekabsone-Zogota and Gunta Basko, the rest of the Latvian squad combined for 10 points on 4-of-14 shooting.
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