McCoughtry Leads USA to Victory at World Championship
September 23, 2010 | Women's Basketball
Sept. 23, 2010
OSTRAVA, Czech Republic - (Associated Press) -- Angel McCoughtry and Swin Cash each scored 16 points to lead a balanced U.S. offense in a 99-73 win over Greece Thursday at the women's basketball world championship.
Tina Charles and Tamika Catchings each added 10 points in the U.S. opener.
Evanthia Maltsi scored 29 points for Greece, which was making its first appearance at the event.
The U.S. entered the tournament in an unfamiliar position of finishing third in 2006. The Americans haven't gone consecutive worlds without winning a gold medal since 1971-75.
The U.S. will play Senegal on Friday, while Greece faces France.
McCoughtry, Cash and Sue Bird competed in the WNBA Finals and only arrived on Tuesday. That allowed just one day of practice with the entire team.
The lack of practice time didn't show on the offensive end as the U.S. looked fluid and got open shots. The Americans consistently made the extra pass to get layups. It probably also helped that six of the U.S. team members played for coach Geno Auriemma at Connecticut and know his offensive system.
Defensively, the U.S. struggled at times to guard Maltsi and Styliani Kaltsidou. Maltsi hit six 3-pointers and Kaltsidou finished with 21 points.
Connecticut senior Maya Moore became the third collegian to play for the U.S. in 12 years when she entered midway through the first quarter. She joined Candace Parker (2006) and Chamique Holdsclaw (1998).
Moore made her presence felt right away by scoring five points during a 17-6 spurt that turned a three-point U.S. lead into a 32-18 advantage at the end of the first quarter.
Bird started the game-changing run with a 3-pointer and Cash followed with a three-point play that made it 21-12.
Greece cut the deficit to 15 three times in the second quarter, including to 50-35 on Maltsi's backdoor layup with 4.5 seconds left. Moore responded, beating the halftime buzzer with a jumper just inside the 3-point line that made it a 17-point game. She finished with nine points.
The Greeks got within 12 on Maltsi's 3-pointer with 6:40 left in the third quarter before back-to-back layups by Charles and Candice Dupree ended any hopes of a comeback.
Greece would get no closer than 14 the rest of the way.
Dupree scored eight of her 10 points in the fourth quarter as the U.S. watched its lead grow to as many as 28 points.
Center Sylvia Fowles looked comfortable while playing seven minutes. She is still working her way back from surgery on her left knee to repair a torn meniscus. The 6-foot-6 star took part in full practices for two days.
