Diana Taurasi, Brittney Griner Wrap up Olympic Preparations
The USA Women’s Basketball Team concluded its three-game exhibition slate prior to the Rio Olympics on Sunday with a 104-89 victory over Australia.
Over the trio of warm-up contests, the Americans defeated the Aussies, Canada and France by an average of 25.7 points.
Leading the way for Team USA? You guessed it: two of the Phoenix Mercury’s brightest stars, Diana Taurasi and Brittney Griner.
Taurasi increased her scoring output each time she stepped on the floor, dropping 7 points, 10 points, 14 points and 20 points, respectively. The latter two totals were team highs for those games. The four-time Olympian also pitched in 12 assists.
Meanwhile, Griner predictably led the squad in blocks with six. Her best overall performance also came in the final tune-up versus Penny Taylor’s Australian side, when she scored 15 points in just over 13 minutes of playing time. Team USA outscored the Aussies by 19 points when Griner was on the floor.
After practicing in Houston on Tuesday, the Americans finally departed for Brazil in hopes of securing their sixth-straight gold medal.
“I know everybody is coming for us,” Griner told USA Basketball’s official website. “No country, no team is going to roll over and just give it to us. We’re going to have to go and take it. We have to take our best ball on both ends of the floor.”
The U.S. has won 41 straight games in Olympic competition dating back to a victory over Cuba in the bronze-medal game in Spain in 1992. No other women’s team in any Olympic sport has ever won five consecutive gold medals. Despite the streaks at stake, Griner isn’t shying away from the golden standard the squad has set for itself.
“I wouldn’t say I feel pressure,” Griner said. “They wouldn’t have picked me if I wasn’t ready. I feel like whatever I do, I just need to try to make a difference each time I’m on the court, and mainly my focus is on the defensive end – blocking shots, altering shots, being a presence there, keeping someone from driving when they would probably drive.
“You see our team … Everybody on this team can score. Defense wins games.”
If Team USA does top the podium again in Brazil, Taurasi would join Sue Bird, Tamika Catchings, Teresa Edwards and Lisa Leslie as the only players in history with four gold medals. The 34-year-old recognizes that this tournament will likely mark the end of her Olympic career, so she plans to savor every moment in Rio.
“I know my games are numbered and my years are numbered. I know that. I’m a realist,” Taurasi said. “I just know that every time I’m on that court, I got to give my all. It’s kind of been the way I’ve approached every day. And when I get with USA Basketball, I try to do it to the max.
“You don’t get these very often and this is my fourth. I’ve been lucky… It humbles you as a basketball player.”
Team USA opens group play on Sunday against Senegal with tipoff at 8 a.m. MST.