BEIJING — Former LSU All-American guard Seimone Augustus scored 12 points and dished out three assists as Team USA remained unbeaten in 2008 Olympic play with a 97-41 win over Mali on Wednesday night (Beijing time) at Wukesong Arena.
Augustus had her highest scoring output of the tournament on 6-of-10 shooting while adding two rebounds and two steals in 18 minutes of action. Fellow teammate and former LSU star Sylvia Fowles contributed eight points and a team-high six rebounds in 14 minutes of playing time.
“(Head) Coach (Anne) Donovan talked to me the last time we played and she just said that it was going to be defense,” Augustus said. “We didn’t know if Candace (Parker) was going to be here or not so she said she needed a bigger guard to help defend the European guards, so I took it into consideration and just went on and tried to work on my defense. If I do have a shot, take a shot, but most importantly try to get everyone open.”
“Seimone has always been just a tremendous scorer, ever since I first saw her as a freshman in college,” Donovan said of Augustus. “She, to me, is one of our better defensive players on the perimeter. When we go to her coming off the bench, we get instant offense. That’s always Seimone’s game, but defensively, we don’t lose a step. She has really improved at that end of the floor.
The Americans (3-0) were led in scoring by Lisa Leslie, who set a U.S. Olympic single-game record with a 7-of-7 effort from the field and 16 points.
Team USA jumped out to a 7-0 lead and later went on a 17-4 run in the second quarter that led to a 51-28 advantage at halftime. Mali (0-3) shot just 25 percent from the field and was held to 13 points in the second half, including only five points in the third quarter. Once again, it was the U.S. defense that turned up the pressure and forced 29 turnovers and five blocks.
In Wednesday’s other preliminary play, Group A saw Russia (3-0) top Belarus (1-2), 71-65; Latvia (1-2) edged Brazil (0-3), 79-78; and Australia (3-0) easily beat South Korea (1-2), 90-63. In Group B, Spain (2-1) downed Czech Republic (1-2), 74-55; and China (2-1) beat New Zealand (1-2), 80-63.
Team USA continues preliminary action on Friday against Spain. Tip time is 7 a.m. CDT live on USA Network and the NBC Olympic Basketball Channel.