The question is becoming the same as it is at the last several Summer Olympics—not only will the USA Basketball Women’s National Team win, but by how many points will they win by.
Case in point with Wednesday’s tilt against Serbia. Team USA was undefeated coming into the game and Serbia was winless. That stayed true after triple-zeroes were reached with a 110-84 victory over Serbia.
It was the most points that Team USA has allowed these Games, but they have showed an ability to win in games where both offenses are operating at an uptempo pace—just ask Australia in the exhibition matchups prior to the Olympics.
It was also the third consecutive game Team USA has scored at least 100 points and their 44th consecutive Olympic victory. Geno Auriemma’s squad knows how to keep it 100 on the hardwood.
Diana Taurasi not only led the USA’s offensive attack with 25 points, she set a record for threes made with six converted from downtown. She also put in six assists to go along with her six treys. Team USA also was perfect from the free throw line, going a perfect 26-for-26 from the charity stripe.
Breanna Stewart also scored 17 points in just under 16 minutes of playing time. Tina Charles added 15.
In spite of Serbia having three players who each contributed 15 points to their effort (Sonja Petrovic, Jelena Milovanovic, and Danielle Page), It was too much Team USA for Serbia to handle.
It actually was a bit interesting after one quarter as Team USA only led 31-21 over Serbia. Both Page and Milanovic scored five of their 15 in the first quarter. Any intrigue about if the unthinkable could happen was erased when Team USA outscored Serbia 25-13 in the second quarter and held them to only three field goals made in the period.
The next time we’ll see the team on the hardwood will be on Friday when they face Canada at 2:30 ET (NBCSN). Auriemma is very familiar with at least one of Canada’s players as their Kia Nurse played for Auriemma at UConn.
By: Akiem Bailum (@AkiemBailum on Twitter, Instagram)
