BEIJING (Olympics) – It took a while for the United States to get going but once Diana Taurasi and Tina Thompson sparked the team into life, there was no stopping the Americans.
 Taurasi finished with 17 points and Thompson seven as the USA rolled to a 97-57 victory in Group B in front of United States President George W Bush who watched from the stands. Trailing 13-2 nearly five minutes into the game, Thompson and Taurasi combined to score all the points in an 8-0 run. The Czechs were still on top at 17-12 following a Michala Hartigova basket when the US hit the Europeans with another surge that put them in command. |  |
Lisa Leslie scored, followed by a Kara Lawson three-pointer and a jumper from Candace Parker to tie the contest.
Tamika Catchings continued the surge with a jumper to make it 19-17.
The three-time defending Olympic champions stayed in front the rest of the way.
By half-time, the US had a 49-31 stranglehold on proceedings and they pulled away in the second half.
“Defense was the key to our win tonight,” Parker said to FIBA.com.
“We forced the Czech Republic into 27 turnovers and we took full advantage.”
The US scored 12 points off those turnovers.
“We were cautious at the start because this was our opening game of the Olympics but then we picked up our game and now we look forward to taking on hosts China,” Parker said.
The USA finished 32 of 54 (59%) inside the arc compared to 14 of 40 (35%) for the Czechs.
Anne Donovan’s team also out-rebounded the Czechs 41-31.
Sylvia Fowles finished with 16 points and 14 rebounds while Leslie had 10 boards to go with her four points.
FIBA
