After cruising through most of pool play, the U.S. women’s senior national team faces an opponent that has that rare thing against the Americans: A win, and a fairly recent one.
The USA goes up against France Friday in the final game of quarterfinal action at the FIBA World Championships in Turkey.
The game starts at 2 p.m. ET in the U.S., and can be seen on NBA-TV or Watch ESPN online.
France upset the U.S. 76-72 in an exhibition tournament in Paris on Sept. 21. Los Angeles Sparks and UMMC Ekaterinberg center Sandrine Gruda had 26 points and 15 rebounds for the French, who overcame an 18-point deficit, and also outrebounded the Americans 44-38.
“We’re going to see them again,” U.S. center Tina Charles predicted after that game. “It’s all about how we respond.”
Gruda has to be just as dominating again, since the U.S. team has been bolstered by the addition of Phoenix Mercury star Brittney Griner, who joined the team after the French leg of its trip to Istanbul.
Griner has been strong in her first major international tournament, averaging 13.3 points (second behind Maya Moore’s 16.0 points) and leads the U.S. with eight boards a game.
But the Americans showed some vulnerability in a 94-74 win over Serbia in their second pool game, a contest that was much closer than the score indicated.
Coach Geno Auriemma’s team was sloppy in that contest, committing 21 turnovers, and didn’t pull away until the fourth quarter, when veteran guard Diana Taurasi scored 13 of her 20 points. It was a six-point game after three periods.
“These games are good for us. This team hasn’t been together very long,” said Taurasi, who sat out stretches of the game with foul trouble. “In the two weeks that we’ve been together, we’ve been battle-tested a couple of times, which in the long run will only help us.”
The USA was able to get some more experience for other rookie players in a 119-44 romp over Angola, its largest margin of victory in the World Championships. Odyssey Sims, Nneka Ogwumike (team-high 18 points) and UConn rising junior Breanna Stewart, the only college player on the team, all logged double-figures in minutes played.
France lost its World Championships opener, 50-48, to the hosts from Turkey, but is coming off a 61-48 win over Brazil, as Gruda had 17 points and eight rebounds.
The other quarterfinal games on Friday involve Australia vs. Canada, Spain vs. China and Turkey vs. Serbia.
Leticia Romero, now at Florida State after a controversy for her wish to transfer from Kansas State, has seen limited action for Spain, which is led by Atlanta Dream forward Sancho Lyttle, the leading scorer in the World Championships (17 ppg). UConn signee Kia Nurse has averaged 6.2 points and 22 minutes a game for Canada.
