Rio 2016: USA Women’s Basketball dismantles Canada

Team USA remained a juggernaut in Rio Olympics women’s basketball, rolling over Canada on Friday during Day 7

No one can take what the USA Women’s Basketball team has done at Rio 2016 away from them. They’ve been an absolute tour de force in Olympics women’s basketball. However, they were coming into Friday facing a Canada team that’d be their stoutest competition yet. How the United States would respond would be the big storyline to follow in women’s hoops on Day 7.

From the opening tip, Team USA didn’t exactly respond promisingly. Diana Taurasi wasn’t seeing her shot fall for the United States like it had been. Even worse was the fact that the shots of the rest of the team weren’t falling either. Team USA only led by two points and only managed 18 points in the first quarter as a result.

Shockingly, the offense didn’t improve a great deal after the first quarter. In fact, the Americans managed only 18 points in the second quarter as well. However, what they did do was turn up the defensive pressure in a major way. Maya Moore pressured the ball masterfully while Brittney Griner and Tina Charles stood tall on the interior. They allowed only six points to Canada in the second quarter, going into halftime up 14 points.

Out of the half, the defensive intensity continued while the offense finally got rolling. That was bad news for Canada as Sue Bird picked them apart with her passing. After three quarters, the US were up by 24 points and cruised through the final 10 minutes to pick up their fourth consecutive win, 81-51.

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Three Stars

Maya Moore, USA – 12 points, eight rebounds, four assists, two steals

Sue Bird, USA – 0 points, nine assists, four rebounds, one steal

Elena Delle Donne, USA – Nine points, six rebounds, three assists, one steal, one block

Next Games

Team USA will be up against China in their final of preliminary round action, facing them on Sunday.

Canada will be up next to finish out Group B on Sunday as well, facing Spain.