Taurasi of the United States vies with Angola's Guadalupe and Tomas during their Women's preliminary round group A basketball match in the London 2012 Olympic Games. (Photo : REUTERS/POOL New)
It looks like the United States is on its way to its fifth gold medal in women's basketball thanks to a strong performance against Angola on July 30. The United States won 90-38, and reasserted their position as the favorites after a sluggish start against Croatia.
It was clear by half time that the United States would walk out with the win. They led 41-18 at the half, and had racked up an impressive 26-7 run that began with 2:44 left in the first quarter.
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The U.S. team shot 54.5 percent from the field and had four players who scored double-digit points. Angola, meanwhile, was held to just 19.7 percent shooting.
Candace Parker, who is listed as a guard/forward/center for the United States ended up with 14 points, 12 rebounds, and four blocked shots.
The strong performance was still undermined by a few key issues that might be a concern when the team goes up against the undefeated Turkey on August 1. The team had 14 turnovers and only shot 2 for 18 from beyond the three-point arc.
The U.S. women's basketball team has been the reigning champs throughout the past four Olympics. Despite winning 81-56 against Croatia, many in the media began criticizing the performance of the team, calling them sluggish among other things.This prompted an intense practice session at the University of East London's Docklands Campus.
"It was a rough start yesterday. We were a little rusty. I don't know if you would call it jitters, I don't know what to call it. Today we came in and we adjusted things we need to work on. Those things are things we can easily fix. We will be better in the next game," said reserve Angel McCoughtry of their Croatia performance.
The U.S. basketball teams are favored to win both the women's and men's gold medals.
The confirmed schedule for the U.S. women's basketball team is:
USA vs. Turkey (August 1, 5:15 p.m. EDT)
USA vs. Czech Republic (August 3, 5:15 p.m. EDT)
USA vs. China (August 5, 11:45 p.m. EDT)
To see the full roster, see the official website here.
