USA exhibit their dominance with a 81-56 victory over Croatia – Women Olympic Basketball Recap
The U.S Men Basketball team usually grabs all the attention at Olympic Basketball. But on the first day of competition at the 2012 London Olympics, it was the U.S women’s team that turned heads after they handed Croatia a convincing
81-56 thrashing.
USA got off to a slow start, and were being challenged by the Croatians through the three quarters with the game up for grabs. However, they turned the game around in the final period, where they dominated the Croatians 28-9 and
cruised to an easy victory in the end.
Tina Charles led the scoring of a team packed with WNBA stars, ending up with 14 points and 10 rebounds for the night. Angel McCoughtry had 13 points and 3 rebounds, going an almost perfect 5 of 6 from the field.
Marija Vrsaljko was the only Croatian to put up a fight against the mighty Americans, finishing with a game high 19 points. She went 8 of 11 from the field and 3 of 3 from the foul line.
The U.S team managed only 4 points in the first five minutes of the game, with the Croatians unable to score on any field goal or free throw attempt by then. The score was 6-0 at the 4:51 mark, and 8-0 at the 3:47 mark as the Croatians
missed their first 14 field goal attempts before putting the first points on the board with a two point shot by Vrsaljko. The U.S side led 11-4 at the end of the first period.
Team USA continued to lead in the opening minutes of the second period, extending the lead to 19-7 with a two point shot from inside the paint by Candace Parker.
However, the Croatians were soon about to wake up as they scored 14 straight points and went on a 17-2 streak to turn the game around and wake up the Americans. A three pointer by Jelena Ivezic put the Croatians up 26-23, and gave
the U.S team something to think about. The Americans then scored 8 straight points and closed the first half leading 31-28.
A two point shot by Ana Lelas tied the score at 36, bringing the Europeans back into the game with 5:51 left in the third. The U.S team made a good effort to keep the lead in the closing minutes of the third quarter and went into
the final period leading 53-47.
By that time, it looked like both teams were quite evenly stacked and the game could go any way. However, the U.S team displayed their skills and talent in the final period to demolish any chances the Croatians had of running away
with a victory.
After being held tightly by the Croatians for three quarters, the U.S team exploded with a barrage of points. After Croatia scored the opening field goal of the final period, the U.S team scored 16 straight points in almost three
minutes, and went on an overall 24-5 run. They outscored the Croatians 28-9 in the final period and ran away to a comfortable 81-56 victory.
The U.S side shot 44.4% from the field and struggled from the distance, going 3 of 11 for the night. The Croatian side shot 33.3% in contrast, and managed only 5 free throws as compared to 22 for the U.S side. Americans also had
a 57-34 advantage in rebounds. With the victory, they top group A although they have the same points as second placed Turkey.
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