USA/AUS – United States women capture fourth Olympic gold on the trot

BEIJING (Olympics) – The United States tore apart Australia 92-65 on Saturday to capture their fourth consecutive Olympic gold medal.

The Americans, who settled for a bronze at the 2006 FIBA World Championship, hit back with a vengeance this summer by routing all of their opponents at the Beijing Games.

The USA women have now won 33 games in a row at the Olympics with gold medal wins over Australia in Sydney (2000) and Athens (2004).

USA great Lisa Leslie, who didn’t play at the World Championship in Brazil, returned to the national squad this year and has now joined Teresa Edwards as only the second basketball player to win four consecutive gold medals

Leslie had 14 points and seven rebounds against Australia.

“I’m just so overwhelmed right now,” she said. “It’s really hard to put into words what we’ve been able to do in one month.

“This USA team has been so selfless, we have worked so hard. It has been awesome for me to experience this for the fourth time.”

The Australians lived a nightmare from the end of the first quarter to the final buzzer.

Penny Taylor sprained her ankle in the quarterfinal win over the Czech Republic and didn’t play against China in the semi-finals.

Lauren Jackson is also not 100% and will arthroscopic surgery next week for ankle injury.

Nothing should be taken away from the Americans, though.

Their defense was constant and outstanding.

They contested nearly every shot of the Australians, who never got out of first gear and finished a woeful 24% (13 of 54) inside the arc.

Jackson, who had just six points in the first half when the USA built a 47-30 lead, said to FIBA.com: "It really hurts. I don't know what happened. I really don't know what happened to us tonight.

“We are going to talk about it after a while. It's hard, it's really hard. The Americans outclassed us today. They played a better game tonight than what we did."

Australia point guard Kristi Harrower said: "We are a much better team than this. It's devastating.

“We started well but then we made mistakes. Against a team like this, you have to play for 40 minutes. We shot the ball crap."

The USA also got a terrific performance from point guard Kara Lawson, one of the last players to make the team.

Lawson had a team-high 15 points, two assists and three rebounds in 18 minutes.

“I’m really proud of my team,” said Anne Donovan. “We shot the ball well, we defended well. I can’t be prouder of this team.

“It’s the best team in terms of selflessness of the teams I’ve been with.”

Donovan had been at the helm of the 2006 FIBA World Championship team that lost to Russia in the semi-finals.

“I was really disappointed to have guided the team to a bronze at the World Championship because we felt we were better.

“That drove me every day from 2006. No one put more pressure on me than I put on myself. I feel we got a bit of redemption here. Now I can have a good night’s sleep.”

Only Belinda Snell looked like her normal self during the first two quarters on Saturday, leading the Opals with 15 points.

Jackson was one of five from the floor with six points and a host of others were stuck on two, including Taylor – the MVP of the World Championship two years ago.

“Penny was at 50% tonight and because of the ankle, she probably lost a bit of confidence,” Harrower said.

“I think we played well over the two weeks, but we didn’t play great. We believed that we could win the gold medal, but against a quality team like the USA, you have to play 40 minutes. We didn’t do that.”

Jackson finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Opals.

Suzy Batkovic had nine rebounds to go with her eight points but was a nightmarish three of 14 from the floor.

Australia coach Jan Stirling was asked about her team’s preparation for the Olympics.

“This was the least preparation an Australia team has had but you think things are going well and then it bites you in the backside,” she said.

“You know as a coach that you needed more preparation.”

Donovan, however, didn’t have much time either with her team.

“I can empathise with Jan, but we had three and a half weeks.”

Donovan said the players, in a very short space of time, grasped the concepts in practice and praised their self-less attitude.

When asked about her future with the national team, Stirling said: “I think I’ve had my time. I think I can walk away from the program with my head held high. I think I’ve helped the program.”

Jeff Taylor

FIBA