Anne Donovan reached into her pocket Thursday night and, without a word, delivered one of the best pregame motivational ploys possible.
A bronze medal rested in her hand, a dull reminder of what Russia had done to the U.S. women’s basketball team at the 2006 world championships in Brazil.
“It really was a terrible feeling to go back to that locker room two years ago,” guard Diana Taurasi said of a semifinal loss that cost the United States a shot at gold. “We didn’t want to have that happen again.”
That won’t be an issue at these Olympics after the U.S. women extracted revenge from Russia with a 67-52 triumph in a hard-fought affair.
Taurasi’s five three-pointers and 21 points helped the Americans extend their Olympic winning streak to 32 games. They’ll face Australia in Saturday’s gold-medal game. One more victory and a fourth straight Olympic gold medal returns to America.
Tina Thompson’s 15 points also sparked the U.S., which overcame a seven-point first-half deficit. Don’t let the final score fool you: The victory marked the Americans’ most difficult test thus far, a defensive-oriented muckfest.
The subplot of South Dakota native Becky Hammon playing for Russia didn’t turn into much. The naturalized Russian citizen got trapped by a swarming U.S. defense and scored just three points.
Russia is one of the few teams in the tournament with the size to challenge the U.S. inside.
“We knew a tough game was coming,” Taurasi said. “You get a sense that the Olympics are easy just because you win the early games by a lot of points. Once you get to this point, there are no bad teams. We handled it.”
Physical play will be needed to match up with Australia in a rematch of the 2004 Athens Olympics gold-medal game. The U.S. knows another gold won’t come easily.
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“We want to finish in style,” forward Tamika Catchings said.
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