BEIJING — Former LSU All-American Sylvia Fowles recorded double-figures with 10 points as the United States Women’s Senior National Team used a second-half offensive surge to put away Spain, 93-55, in preliminary play on Friday night at Wukesong Arena.
Fowles added four rebounds to go along with a 4-of-5 effort from the field in 14 minutes of action as she continues to make an impact in her first Olympics. Fellow teammate and former National Player of the Year Seimone Augustus added seven points with two assists and two steals in 17 minutes of action.
“We started out with a lot of energy and the second group came in and we had some lags,” Fowles said. “That put us in a downhill from there. But once we got into the locker room Coach Anne (Donovan) broke it down and told us practice what we’ve been doing and get things done as a team. If we do that, we’ll get it done. We came out in the second half and we utilized it and it showed.”
“I think tonight was a very tough challenge for us, offensively and defensively,” Augustus added. “I think we got our focus. We played against a very tough team in Spain. This is lessons learned and hopefully, we take from this and move on to the next game.”
The Americans (4-0) faced their toughest test of the tournament to date. Spain (2-2) trailed 22-17 at the end of the first quarter after closing the period with a 13-1 spurt. The game remained a close contest at the half, 39-34, in favor of the United States.
However, the Americans took full control in the final 20 minutes with a mix of defensive pressure that forced Spain into numerous turnovers. The U.S. outscored Spain, 54-21, during that span and forced Spain into 13 turnovers with only six made shots from the field.
“We just focused a little more on defense and made sure we played team defense,” Augustus said. “I think they did a great job penetrating and pitching and getting their shooters open shots. I think it was mainly about shutting down the penetration and causing deflections and things like that, turnovers.
Tina Thompson finished with 17 points, and Lisa Leslie notched a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds.
With the win, the Americans secured a berth in the quarterfinal round regardless of the outcome of their final preliminary contest. Team USA takes on New Zealand at 9:15 a.m. CDT Sunday. The game will be televised live by NBC.
The women’s quarterfinals will be contested Aug. 19, the semifinals on Aug. 21 and the gold and bronze medal games will be played on Aug. 23.
In Wednesday’s other preliminary play, Group A saw Australia (4-0) defeat Latvia (1-3), 96-73; Russia (4-0) survived Brazil (0-4), 74-64; and Belarus (2-2) beat South Korea (1-3), 63-43.
In Group B, Czech Republic (2-2) rolled past New Zealand (1-3), 90-59 and China (3-1) beat Mali (0-4), 69-48.