Like the men, U.S. women dominate China

Like the men, U.S. women dominate China
It's a laugher after 35-3 run in first half

7:06 AM CDT, August 11, 2008

BEIJING - The Chinese national anthem was sung with as much pride and fervor, the opening basket cheered with similar gusto.

And while Nan Chen's two-pointer perhaps lacked the dramatic impact of Yao Ming's three-pointer from 24 hours earlier, an electric atmosphere again pervaded Olympic Basketball Gymnasium on Monday night for the second straight night of U.S. versus China.

Then the game started.

Just like their male counterparts, the U.S. women's Olympic basketball team watched China hang in the early stages before delivering a quick and decisive knockout blow en route to a 108-63 blowout victory.

Team USA closed the first quarter with an astonishing 23-0 run that eventually stretched to the rarely-seen 35-3 run, with Tina Thompson inflicting the most damage.

Scoring on everything from power moves inside to feathery soft three-pointers, Thompson had 13 of Team USA's 23 points in the first-quarter run that quieted the crowd.

Thompson finished with a game-high 27 points as Team USA followed up its blowout over Czech Republic with an even more impressive outing.

"Tina was on fire," guard Sue Bird said. "When you're on a run like that, you just have to milk it, enjoy it. We were able to get a lot of stops and from those stops, we were able to score. That got us going offensively."

Chicago Sky forward Sylvia Fowles added 18 points, and Naperville's Candace Parker contributed 12 as Team USA piled up a staggering 72 points in the paint. How dominant was this performance? Lisa Leslie had played just 11 minutes through three quarters before coach Anne Donovan gave her six fourth-quarter minutes for some exercise.

"We knew the crowd was going to be in it, so it was good to start better than we did against Czech Republic," Donovan said. "We set the tempo right away."

Next up for Team USA, besides a lecture from Donovan on overconfidence?

Mali on Wednesday, who should prove to be yet another speed bump on this team's quest for its fourth straight gold medal.