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Sunday, September 3
Olympians post a 66-point victory
Associated Press
HONOLULU -- Nell Fortner became the U.S. women's basketball
team's career victory leader Sunday with the Olympic-bound squad's
blowout victory over the U.S. Select team.
The U.S. Olympic team, using its fastbreak to perfection and a swarming
defense that forced turnovers and airballs, beat the Select team
97-31.
|  | | Lisa Leslie of the Olympic team soars over Kelly Schumacher of the Select team in the easy 97-31 victory for the Olympians.
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The victory was Fortner's 89th as coach of the national team,
giving her one more than Tara VanDerveer. But Fortner wasn't
jumping for joy over the record-breaking victory.
"It's all about winning in Sydney," she said. "That's the
bottom line. I didn't even know there was a record like that."
But one player wasn't about to let her coach off so easily.
"Nell's done a very good job," Lisa Leslie said. "We set
goals when we first started and we've had a great run thus far.
Obviously, we would love for Nell to continue to have that record.
"But for Nell to do that, we need to play some good, hard
basketball."
It was the biggest winning margin for the United States team
that first came together last September, bettering its 57-point
victory over Stephen F. Austin last December. Since regrouping in
August, Team USA has won five games by an average of 41.4 points.
Chamique Holdsclaw scored 14 points, Leslie and Yolanda Griffith
each had 12, Sheryl Swoopes and DeLisha Milton added 11 each, and
Ruthie Bolton-Holifield had 10. The U.S. team was 42-for-62 from the
field (68 percent).
After going over the stat sheet, Fortner sounded a warning.
"It speaks highly for the leadership on this team and also the
intensity and focus this team has heading into the Olympics," she
said. "I'm really pleased with that."
For the Select Team, coach Bonnie Hendrickson said it was a
learning experience.
"I think we all saw first hand why Nell's team is the best in
the world -- athleticism and skills, the combination at the next
level," she said.
But for our group of college players, it was an eye-opening
experience and also a wonderful opportunity to see first-hand where
many of them have goals and aspirations to be."
The Olympians used a 36-6 run to take a 50-17 lead at the half.
Leslie had eight points in the half, Griffith and Swoopes six
apiece and Bolton-Holifield added five.
For awhile, there was a danger the All-Stars wouldn't break into
the double figures in the first half. But Jackie Stiles' free throw
made it 40-10 with 3:37 left in the half.
Two more runs, 14 points to open the second half and 13 late in
the game helped build the margin to 66 points with 4:48 left.
The U.S. team limited the Select squad to 21 percent shooting
(11-for-53), forced 25 turnovers and had 15 steals.
Leslie noted the team's defense, an integral part of the team's
drive for the gold medal.
"I think we did a very good job defensively," she said. "And
defense is obviously going to be the key to winning the gold."
Kelly Schumacher led the Select team with eight points, and
Jackie Stiles added seven.
The U.S. team now moves on to Australia for four exhibition
games before opening the Olympics against South Korea on Sept. 16.
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