The men’s basketball team isn’t the only U.S. team flashing gold-medal form in the early stages of the Olympic Games.
The U.S. women’s basketball team improved its record to 2-0 with a 90-61 victory over Cuba on Monday in front of a crowd that included Chelsea Clinton. The United States will play Russia on Tuesday.
The Americans stretched a six-point halftime lead into a 29-point blowout with a stepped-up transition game and pesky defense.
Katie Smith led the U.S. with 15 points, hitting all six of her shots, including three three-pointers. Teresa Edwards scored 13 points, Sheryl Swoopes had 11 and Lisa Leslie 10. Kara Wolters, who did not play in the first game against South Korea, added eight points off the bench.
“You think you got them, and then they come in with their second five,” Christi Harrower, an Australian point guard, said of the U.S. team’s depth after an exhibition loss to the U.S. women last week. “There is hardly any dropoff. In fact, sometimes there is none.”
The Australians, considered to be one of the U.S. women’s rivals here, topped Brazil 81-70 in a later Group A game. Australia made 60 percent of its shots in the second half.
The Aussies (2-0) are trying to set themselves up for a showdown with the United States in the medal round.
Not that anyone would genuinely crave a matchup with the U.S. women. They shot 55.1 percent from the field and outrebounded Cuba 34-20.
It was business as usual, meanwhile, for the U.S. men’s team, which barely broke a sweat in defeating China 119-72 in Sunday’s opener. The U.S. men face Italy on Tuesday.
“We just want to win a gold medal,” guard Gary Payton said after the Americans started out slow. “People are going to emphasize the slow start. We won by 50 points, so that doesn’t make a difference.”
Ray Allen scored 21 points on 8-of-10 shooting and Vince Carter had 16 for the U.S.