U.S. women give China double dose

By Alastair Himmer

BEIJING (Reuters) - The United States inflicted a double dose of basketball blues on Olympic hosts China when their women’s team powered to a 108-63 blowout win on Monday.

Just 24 hours after Yao Ming and his troops were pulverized by the U.S. men, the Chinese women were given the runaround by an American team chasing a fourth straight Olympic title.

China led 11-8 in the first quarter but the U.S. went on a 25-0 run to end the half, sparked by forward Tina Thompson, who finished with 27 points, 21 of them before intermission.

“Tina was hot, hot, hot!” said U.S. centre Lisa Leslie, a three-times gold medalist. “Tonight was Tina’s night. But the crowd was cheering so hard every now and then we had to check the score … then we went, ‘Yeah, we’re still up by 30’.”


Out-muscled and unable to penetrate the American defense, China resorted to launching long bombs but connected on just four of 16 three-pointers in a one-sided Group B encounter.

WNBA rookie sensation Candace Parker drew roars from the crowd of 16,000 by slam-dunking the ball during the warm-up but turned down a chance to shake the rim during the game.

“Oh God! I just didn’t want to get hung on the front of the rim,” Parker said. “I didn’t say we’re not going to see a dunk these Olympics but I was underneath the basket—there was no way I was going to go up there and embarrass myself.”

European champions Russia survived a scare against South Korea before coming through 77-72 to make it two wins out of two in Group A.

American-born Becky Hammon, whose controversial decision to play for Russia upset many of her countrywomen, had 10 points despite struggling to understand her coach’s instructions.

“Most of the girls speak English so it’s been fine,” she said. “As for the coach? We’re working on it.”

World champions Australia overcame Brazil 80-65 led by 18 points from forward Laura Summerton in Group A.

The Czech Republic thrashed Mali 81-47 and Spain beat New Zealand 85-62 in Group B games while Belarus beat Latvia 79-57 in Group A.