 Jackson continues to be the Olympics’ most dominant individual. Stuart Hannagan/Getty |
After halftime, the Americans began to pull away. They outscored Spain 19-12 in the third quarter, with the Spanish staying in the game at the free-throw line, where they hit eight of 10 attempts in the period. (Spain was 19-for-28 from the line for the game, the U.S. 17-for-23, as referees kept tight control on the action.) By the halfway point of the fourth quarter, the U.S. women held their largest advantage of 16, and Spain would never again wrest the deficit below double-digits as the U.S. held on for a 71-58 victory.
Despite being limited to 25 minutes by foul trouble, center Lisa Leslie shined again for the Americans, scoring 19 points and adding nine rebounds. Despite not enjoying a tremendous size advantage over the Spanish, the U.S. front line of Leslie, Tina Thompson and Tamika Catchings totaled 49 points and 19 rebounds. For Spain, only forward Amaya Valdemoro, who finished with 22 points on 6-for-13 shooting, scored double-figures.
Neither team showed off the depth that had been key in their 3-0 starts. Only three Spanish players scored more than five points, and U.S. Coach Van Chancellor tightened up his rotation. Only three American reserves played more than 10 minutes, and they totaled just eight points after coming into the game averaging 36.3 points per game. Storm guard Sue Bird was one of those playing a smaller role, and she was scoreless in just eight minutes of action, missing all four shot attempts.
The U.S. was able to control the game’s half-court style, playing to its strength inside, which resulted in poor shooting for both teams, the U.S. at 38.2% and Spain at 36.2%. The U.S. women continued to struggle from outside, shooting just 2-for-12 from three-point range. Spain was also slowed down because it had to send multiple players to the paint to keep the U.S. from dominating the glass. While the Americans had 16 offensive boards, their 37-28 rebounding advantage was easily their smallest of the Games.
While the U.S. women conclude group play against China on Sunday, that game is meaningful only to staying undefeated and maintaining their Olympics winning streak, now at 21 games. The games start really counting during the single-elimination medal round, which begins Wednesday, Aug. 25. The U.S. will face the fourth-place team from Group A, which will likely be decided by Sunday’s Greece-Japan game.
Barring a surprising stumble by Brazil against 0-3 Nigeria later today, the Aussies’ fate won’t be decided until a Sunday showdown with Brazil. Still, a 77-40 domination of host Greece continued to establish Australia as the class of Group A thus far.
Greece was able to stay with the other top teams in Group A, Brazil and Russia, and did so against Australia for one quarter. By the second quarter, however, the rout was on as the Opals outscored Greece 21-8 in the period to take an 18-point lead to halftime. Things got no better for the Greeks after halftime, as Australia built the lead to 29 after three quarters. Unlike their last game against Japan, when the Aussies allowed their lead to dwindle down the stretch, the reserves kept pouring it on to finish with their largest victory of the Games, by 37 points.
As usual, Australia was led by the Storm’s Lauren Jackson. Seeing 28 minutes of action, Jackson scored 20 points on 9-for-18 shooting and pulled down 12 rebounds. Penny Taylor (16 points) and reserve Belinda Snell (12) joined Jackson in double-figures. 2003 Storm draft pick Suzy Batkovic added eight points and nine rebounds. Despite the Greeks boasting two of the Olympics’ top scorers entering the game in Evanthia Maltsi and Anastasia Kostaki, they had no players in double-figures against Australia. Maltsi did have nine points and 10 rebounds.
The Australians clamped down with easily their best defensive performance of the Games, holding Greece to dismal 15-for-63 shooting (23.8%), 2-for-21 (9.5%) from downtown. Australia also doubled up Greece on the glass, 50-25.
While Sunday’s matchup with Brazil will likely decide Australia’s finish in Group A, it is not a must-win game even if Brazil beats Nigeria today. Despite a loss, Australia could finish as the top team from Group A if Russia wins its final game against Nigeria. That would produce a three-way tie atop Group A, with Australia, Brazil and Russia all at 4-1 and all 1-1 against each other. The next tie-breaker is believed to be point ratio – not differential, but ratio – in head-to-head games. Assuming a typical Olympic score in the 70s or so, Australia would still have the best differential if it lost by 14 points or less to Brazil. It would take a loss of approximately 29 points or more to drop Australia to third. Of course, the Opals need not worry about tie-breaker procedure if they can remain undefeated and take down Brazil.
Positioning is more clear in Group B, where the U.S. and Spain have clinched the top two spots. The Czech Republic and New Zealand have also clinched medal-round berths, and their positioning will be determined by their matchup Sunday.
