Group play has concluded, so bring on the medal round!
Blowout victories are a unique occurrence in basketball, but they have become a typical day at the office for the USA Basketball Women’s National Team.
Team USA concluded its group play schedule at the Rio Olympics with another emphatic victory, this time earning a 105-62 victory over China.
If this game was meant to send one more message that Team USA once again has its eyes on once again successfully defending its gold medal win for London, it is a message that can be well-received in any language.
Officially, there was only one Brittney Griner on the floor for Team USA, but after checking some of the what happened in this game, China had to feel as if there were more than one of her. Her 18 points and 13 rebounds were major catalysts in what led a dominating offensive output.
Tina Charles also added 18 points. Sylvia Fowles and Seimone Augustus also contributed 13 and 10 points, respectively, with both playing less than 20 minutes.
Other than Mengran Sun’s 16 points and Wen Lu’s 14, no one else had more than nine for China.
Team USA began this game after one quarter with a 32-9 lead. It was 60-26 at the half. At this point, the question was not if it would result in another blowout victory, but would Team USA approach the 100-point plateau for the fourth time in five games these Olympics.
They did as a fastbreak layup from Lindsay Whalen off a Breanna Stewart pass got the team once again at the century mark.
With the preliminaries now in the books, the scene now shifts to Carioca Arena for the knockout round—and where the men’s basketball preliminaries have taken place. The Youth Arena will later become a fencing venue as part of modern pentathlon events.
By: Akiem Bailum (@AkiemBailum on Twitter, Instagram)
