Posted at 7:09 a.m., Friday, October 26, 2007
Basketball: Taurasi leads U.S. select team to final
Associated Press
EKATERINBURG, Russia — Diana Taurasi scored 20 of her 25 points in the first half to lead the U.S. select team into the gold-medal game with a 97-79 win over UMMC Ekaterinburg today.Taj McWilliams-Franklin had 15 points and 10 rebounds, Sue Bird added 13 points and Katie Smith 11.
The U.S. team will face CSKA Moscow, which the Americans beat 81-72 in a preliminary-round game Wednesday.
"They've got great inside players. (Ann) Wauters and (Maria) Stepanova are big players," said U.S. coach Anne Donovan.
Sandrine Gruda had 20 points and Agnieszka Bibrzycka added 19 for UMMC Ekaterinburg.
The U.S. held a 21-16 lead with 3:19 left in the first quarter before going on a 12-2 run to cap the period and extend the advantage to 15. The Americans led as many as 26 in the first half and 60-38 at halftime.
UMMC Ekaterinburg closed to 76-66 by scoring the first five points of the fourth quarter, but the U.S. put the game away with consecutive 3-pointers by Bird.
"They're a really good team and in any game people are going to make runs," Taurasi said. "But I think we got in a huddle, drew up a play and Sue (Bird) made two huge shots to help fatten the lead a little bit more. After that we felt pretty good."
CSKA Moscow routed China 103-56 in the other semifinal game.
