The USA Basketball Women’s World Championship Team (9-0) stormed out of the locker room at halftime on a 15-2 run to pull away from host Czech Republic (6-3) and finished the night with the eventual 89-69 gold medal victory at the 2010 FIBA World Championship.
The U.S. had four players score in double digits, led by a game-high 18 points from Angel McCoughtry.
The USA became the first team to qualify for the 2012 Olympic Summer Games that will be held July 27-Aug. 12 in London, England.
What did it feel like on the medal stand?
“It was awesome,” said Stanford grad Jayne Appel, who played two minutes in the title tilt. “It’s just a tremendous feeling and I’m just so proud. Our team worked so hard to get here. We accomplished our goal, and we are world champions. It was a moment you will never forget. It was just really, really cool.”
Diana Taurasi added 16 points, Tina Charles had 13 points and grabbed a game-best 10 boards and Sue Bird had 11.
Taurasi was named to the five-member All-World Championship Team along with Hana Horakova and Eva Viteckova of the Czech Republic, Yelena Leuchanka of Belarus, and Amaya Valdemoro of Spain.
The American women now own a 97-21 (.822) all-time record since the first FIBA World Championship was held in 1953, earned their ninth straight podium finish at the Worlds dating to the 1979 tournament, and the 2010 gold medal represented a record eighth gold for the U.S. in World Championship competition.
By Palo Alto Online Sports
By Palo Alto Online Sports
By Palo Alto Online Sports
By Palo Alto Online Sports