Second unit provides spark and US routs Canada 87-46 in women’s basketball worlds

Second unit provides spark, US routs Canada 87-46

OSTRAVA, Czech Republic — Lindsay Whalen scored 16 points to lead the United States to a 87-46 win over Canada on Monday night in the second round of the women’s basketball world championship.

Swin Cash and Asjha Jones each added 10 for the Americans (4-0). The U.S. will face Belarus on Tuesday.

For the second straight game the U.S. got off to a slow start as Canada jumped out to an 11-5 lead with 4:27 left in the first quarter. It was the biggest deficit the Americans had faced in the tournament. Coach Geno Auriemma put in his second group led by Whalen, Angel McCoughtry and Tina Charles and they quickly provided an immediate spark, blowing the game open.

Janelle Bekkering and Kim Smith scored eight points to lead Canada (1-3).

The second unit got four straight turnovers on the way to a 12-0 run. The U.S. forced Canada into 32 turnovers in the game.

On one play, McCoughtry stole the ball from Kaela Chapdelaine, made a move to the basket causing the Canadian guard to fall down, and then scored an easy hoop.

Bekkering finally ended the spurt, hitting a 3-pointer to make it 17-14. Bekkering was one of three college players in the game. She is a fifth-year senior at Gonzaga. Her Canadian teammate Natalie Achonwa is a freshman at Notre Dame. Connecticut’s Maya Moore is the Americans’ lone college player.

Bekkering’s basket didn’t stem the tide for long. The U.S. held Canada without a basket for the next 7 minutes and went on a 16-3 run to make it 33-17. Charles had five points during the spurt, including a three-point play on a drive from the foul line.

By the time the half ended, the U.S. led 47-25.

While Sylvia Fowles had another quiet game scoring just two points, she did answer any lingering questions about the health of her left knee.

The 6-foot-6 center, who had surgery to repair a torn meniscus in late August, tried a dunk about 10 seconds into the third quarter. She stole the ball and went the length of the court. Unfortunately the official called her for traveling before her two-handed slam attempt went off the rim.

Canada couldn’t get closer than 20 in the second half.

Auriemma wasn’t thrilled with his team’s play at times in the second half. On one possession the Americans had a 2-on-1 break and McCoughtry threw a pass off the rim. Another play really drew his ire as Charles drove to the middle and tried to shoot over two Canadians. When the shot missed the U.S. coach looked at his former star at UConn and said, “Are you out of your mind?”

Despite sharing a common border, the two North American nations don’t play very often internationally. They last met in the 2007 FIBA Americas qualifier with the U.S. winning that game by 48 points. The U.S. had won five of the six meetings between them with the lone Canadian victory in the worlds coming back in 1975.

Canada advanced to the second round by beating China in the opening pool play. After a 12-year absence from the worlds, the Canadians returned four years ago to the tournament and placed 10th in Brazil.