United States uses big second half to beat France, 84-62

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The United States overcame a sluggish start and relied on its firepower to beat France, 84-62 in the USA Basketball Showcase on Wednesday at the Bob Carpenter Center of University of Delaware.

Leading by just 32-31 after the halftime break, the Olympic women's team dropped 31 points in the third quarter to pull away and improve to 2-0 in their exhibition tour.

Tina Charles led four players in double-digits with 17 points on 7-for-12 shooting and five rebounds. Maya Moore had 13 points, three assists, and three steals, while Diana Taurasi and Elena Delle Donne each scored 10 points. Sue Bird dished out eight assists.


USA built a 24-17 lead in the second quarter, but were able to pull away due to turnovers. Back to back baskets by Marielle Amant even gave France a 31-30 lead late in the first half although Maya Moore ended  the period with a jumper.

But USA managed to flip the switch in the third quarter, opening on a 9-2 run behind seven combined from Charles and Moore to make it 41-33.

"Sometimes it’s just a matter of keep pushing, keep pushing, keep doing what you are doing, keep focusing in on the little things. We have so much experience, so much talent, that sometimes you just have to keep going, and the flood gates will break open," Moore said.

USA continued to pull away after that point, showing great balance as the team led by as much as 25 points and outscored France 52-31 in the second half.

"I thought our defensive intensity was more consistent. We moved the ball a little bit better, and just played with a lot of confidence," Moore said.

"U-S-A!" chants broke out of the sold-out venue in the fourth quarter, with the home team already ahead by a huge margin.

"It was a great atmosphere, and I’m thrilled that we were able to come here, and they’ve got some great basketball fans here and it was nice of us to be able to take part in it," head coach Geno Auriemma said.

"To hear the “USA!” chant from the whole crowd, that felt really good. I haven’t had that a lot in my 14 years with the national team. We’ve usually been playing overseas," three-time Olympic gold medalist Diana Taurasi added.

USA shot 47.6 percent from the field, and had 21 assists. The squad also shot better from three-point area this time at 6-for-15.

"I think, offensively (we improved) in terms of getting out of each other’s way. I think the unselfishness sometimes puts you in positions where you pass up shots, and you look around and there’s eight seconds (on the shot clock), and we haven’t done anything," Taurasi said.

"So there’s that balance. And, defensively, we played with a little bit more energy, with a certain edge that we didn’t have against the Select Team (on Monday). So, it’s good to know that we can get that."

All 12 players scored for USA.

"It’s (depth) always been our greatest strength.  We don’t get the time to prepare; we don’t get the time to practice together.  We just go and play these exhibition games. Our greatest strength has always been our numbers. We’re gonna start with five, and you’re gonna put your next five in, and we’re gonna put our next five in and that’s gonna cause a lot of problems for teams," Taurasi added.

Marine Johannes led France with 13 points on 5-for-7 from the field. Endy Miyem had 10 points on 50 percent shooting.

USA will continue its slate of exhibition games with a duel against Canada on Friday in Connecticut, and Auriemma hopes his squad continues to improve.

"We have to use these games as practice sessions for us, and as in anything else you just want to keep improving, keep getting better, and I thought we did that tonight," Auriemma said.

"We will be a little bit better tomorrow in practice. We will be a little bit better on Friday against Canada. We’ve got a group of players that have done this a lot of times in their lives. We’ve got Elena (Delle Donne), Sylvia (Fowles) and Brittney (Griner), who have not, so this is a whole another level for them, and it’s not anything they’ve ever experienced. Whatever they’ve experienced in college or on their WNBA teams, there’s WNBA basketball and then there’s Olympic basketball, and they’re two separate things. And they’re starting to find that out, and they’re starting to pick it up a little bit at a time."

(For the full boxscore, click here)

In the first game, the Australian Opals defeated Canada, 80-67. Penny Taylor topscored with 19 points on 6-for-9 shooting, including 3-for-5 from three-point area. Liz Cambage added 16 points on 8-for-10 shooting and five rebounds. Erin Phillips and Leilani Mitchell tallied 12 points apiece.


Shona Thorburn was the lone double-digit scorer for Canada with 13 points. Kim Gaucher added nine points, while Nirra Fields had eight points.

Australia shot 58 percent from the field compared to just 36.5 percent from Canada. Australia also controlled the rebounding battle, 35-25.

(For the full boxscore, click here)

Australia will next face France.

All quotes from the USA Basketball website

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