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Lauren Jackson was relatively quiet in the first three games of the 2008 Olympics. In Friday's 96-73 victory over Latvia, Jackson loudly announced her presence by becoming the first player to score 30 points in Beijing thus far. Jackson needed just 26 minutes and 21 shots to get there because she was hitting with laser-like precision from downtown. Jackson made five three-pointers in nine attempts, hitting time and again from the perimeter.
The Australian Defence Force Opals needed Jackson's big scoring night to help overcome a slow start. Latvia led by six midway through the second quarter before Jackson followed a Belinda Snell three-pointer with back-to-back triples of her own to push Australia back out in front. In the last five minutes of the first half alone, Jackson scored 13 points.
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The third quarter as a whole belonged to the Opals as a team. They scored 35 points in the 10-minute period, getting contributions from up and down the lineup. The quarter allowed Australia to take a 20-point lead to the fourth quarter, effectively ending the game.
The Aussies did not shoot particularly well overall, hitting 43.0 percent from the field. However, 24 offensive rebounds meant nearly exactly half of those misses stayed with the Opals, giving them a second chance. Australia converted plenty of those opportunities. Add in extremely sure-handed play that saw the Opals commit just six turnovers and they got up a remarkable 86 shot attempts in a 40-minute game, 37 more than Latvia, which shot a strong 53.1 percent from the field but still made 11 fewer field goals than Australia.
Former Storm center Suzy Batkovic continued her outstanding Olympics, contributing 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting. Another Storm alumna, guard Tully Bevilaqua, had her best outing of the Olympics. Frequently paired with Kristi Harrower in a dual-point guard backcourt to help defend Latvia's talented Anete Jekabsone-Zogota, Bevilaqua came up with six points and three assists off the bench. Penny Taylor posted a double-double of 11 points and 11 boards.
Jekabsone-Zogota scored 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting. However, pressure defense harassed her into seven of Latvia's 21 turnovers. Ieva Tare scored 14 points and Liene Jansone scored 11 points.
First place in Group A will be on the line Sunday in the highly-anticipated battle between two unbeatens and medal favorites, Australia and Russia.
"We definitely haven't peaked yet," Jackson said. "We're slowly getting to where we want to get to. I wouldn't say we were at our best by any means."
UNITED STATES 93, SPAIN 55
The 38-point final margin does not reflect some tense moments for the U.S. Women Friday in their most competitive game of the Olympics thus far. A rout seemed to be in order when the USA scored 17 unanswered points to take a 19-4 lead. However, a resilient Spanish squad answered by closing the first quarter with a 13-3 run. Spain trailed by as few as three points much of the second quarter, with only a Candace Parker bucket just before the buzzer giving the U.S. a five-point advantage at the break.
The second half was completely different, with the USA regaining its composure and Spain becoming rattled by the physical, intense play that was an abrupt change from the early American group games. An Anna Montanana technical helped spark an 8-0 U.S. run to start the half, and Spain was outscored 23-10 in the third quarter and 54-21 in the second half, providing a lopsided and misleading final score.
"Just what we were expecting from Spain," said USA Head Coach Anne Donovan, who was pleased with how her team responded to facing adversity for the first time int eh Olympics. "We knew they were one of the toughest teams in our pool. When they attacked us early, and went on that big run at the end of the first quarter, we knew we were in for a game. Spain traditionally fights very hard. Really, once they get on a roll, they ride that emotion and they did that throughout the first half.
"I thought we regrouped at halftime and came back in the second half and really talked about defensive adjustments and getting back to what we’re good at, which is team defense and we did a much better job in the second half. But great game. And for us, this is a good game. This is what we want to have hopefully before we advance."
After starting slowly, Spain brought star forward Amaya Valdemoro off the bench, where she has been in the Olympics because she is nursing a calf injury. Valdemoro had not been playing at her usual high level of play, but knocked down a pair of quick three-pointers to spark the Spanish offense. The USA also had a hard time dealing with the quickness of guard Nuria Martinez, who was able to drive and kick.
Storm point guard 
Sue Bird was a big part of the turnaround. In the first half, Bird struggled to contain Martinez and with atypical turnovers, leading Donovan to give backups Kara Lawson and Cappie Pondexter extended run at the point. In the second half, Bird was back in control at both ends of the floor. Though she did not score, Bird was key to getting the offense running.
The U.S. had plenty of scoring punch, with five players scoring double-figures. Tina Thompson led the way with 17 points, while Lisa Leslie offered another double-double (14 points, 11 boards). Candace Parker (13) and Sylvia Fowles (10) scored double-figures off the bench.
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By this point, the script for Russia has become familiar. So too has the script for Brazil, but in opposite ways. The result was a 74-64 Russia victory that dropped Brazil to 0-4 and ended the team's hopes of advancing to the quarterfinals.
Brazil has been competitive throughout these Olympics but has struggled to finish. Meanwhile, Russia has trailed often but done just enough to win. After running up 26 points in the first quarter, Brazil took a two-point lead to the fourth period. However, the Brazilians were limited to eight points in the final quarter as Russia came from behind for the win.
Brazil has outscored four other teams in the Olympics in terms of point differential. However, Brazil and Mali are the only teams that remain winless.
Storm center 
Kelly Santos had 10 points and four rebounds in a tough shooting night, hitting 3-of-11 from the field. Adriana Moises Pinto carried the Brazilian offense, hitting five three-pointers and finishing with 21 points, six assists and three steals. Tatiana Shchegoleva led four Russian players in double-figures with 14 points, while Ilona Korstin had a strong all-around game with 10 points, five rebounds and five assists.
ELSEWHERE ...
Belarus 63, South Korea 53 - In a key Group A matchup, Belarus pulled away in the third quarter to beat South Korea and lay claim to third place in the group. Belarus will clinch third with a win over Brazil on Sunday, which means avoiding the U.S. in the quarterfinals and getting a matchup with the second-place finisher in Group B. Belarus overcame 30 turnovers with a 45-25 advantage on the glass and by holding Korea to 34.2 percent shooting.
Czech Republic 90, New Zealand 59 - The Kiwis hung tough into the third quarter before the Czech Republic, with differential on its mind, pulled away for the big win. Hana Machova and Eva Viteckova both topped 20 points for the Czechs, while Angela Marino led New Zealand with 22 points.
China 69, Mali 48 - In a defensive struggle, China improved to 3-1 by holding Mali to 28.1 percent shooting. Miao Lijie provided most of the scoring the Chinese needed, finishing with 25 points on 10-of-15 shooting. Sunday's Group B finale against the Czech Republic will be critical for positioning. With a win, China would finish second in the group. A loss, combined with Spain's likely win over Mali, would leave all three teams tied at 3-2 and all having beaten one of the others. The next tiebreaker is what FIBA calls "goal average," the ratio of points scored to those allowed. The Czech Republic is +6, Spain +1 and China -4 thus far. By definition, China would have the worst goal average if all three teams end up tied. Spain is likely to beat Mali by a large margin and would presumably finish second. The second-place finisher will avoid both Australia and Russia and get a much easier quarterfinal matchup.
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