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Cut down to size U.S. women beat Poland to cruise to quarterfinals
SYDNEY, Australia (AP) -- Margo Dydek helped bring Poland a lot closer to the U.S. women's basketball team this time. It still wasn't close enough. Booed and jeered throughout the second half, the United States rolled past Poland 76-57 Sunday to remain unbeaten in the Sydney Games and claim first place in its preliminary group. Now it's on to the quarterfinals for the Americans (5-0), who haven't had a game closer than 11 points and remain the gold medal favorite in these Olympics. Against Poland, the United States raced to a 23-point halftime lead, then did just enough in the second half to stay in control. "I was very pleased with the first half and not as pleased with the second," U.S. coach Nell Fortner said. "We pushed the ball well and defended well in the first half, then lost some of our intensity. We fouled too much in the second half and slowed the game down, and we didn't want to do that."
Having Dydek helped Poland on Sunday, but defense by Yolanda Griffith, DeLisha Milton and Natalie Williams kept her from dominating the game early. She scored 18 of her 24 points in the second half, when the United States was safely ahead, and had 10 rebounds. "We just felt if we could send a lot of defenders at her we could slow her down and make her tired," Griffith said. Sheryl Swoopes and Griffith led the United States with 16 points each. Lisa Leslie added 14. Griffith also grabbed 12 rebounds. Crowds in the Olympics tend to favor the underdog, so Poland had the fans on its side from the start. They turned against the United States even more after Leslie knocked a Polish player out of the game. Leslie grabbed an offensive rebound early in the second half and stuck out her backside to clear space. The move sent Poland's Edyta Koryzna sprawling backward to the floor, apparently knocking the wind out of her. Koryzna was carried off the floor and later taken out of the arena in a wheelchair. She was taken to the hospital for X-rays to determine if she had any internal injuries. "I don't think I hit her,"Leslie said. " didn't see her at all, so I would have to watch replays. From where she was on the free throw line and where I was down low, I didn't see her at all." Fans booed Leslie every time she touched the ball after that and the entire crowd took up the chant "ols-ka, Pols-ka."It made little difference. The United States, quicker and deeper, kept its composure and stayed safely ahead. Poland cut a 25-point lead to 58-44 with 9:10 left, but the Americans answered with an 8-2 run that included four points by Swoopes to get the lead back to 20. Poland (3-2) was never closer than 16 points after that. " think the crowds will always be fickle and I expect it to go back and forth," Leslie said. "The same people that cheer for you one day are the same people that are against you the next. That's just the way it goes with fans." Australia also went 5-0 to win the other preliminary group, keeping alive the possibility of a highly anticipated meeting with the United States in the gold medal game. The Australians finished pool play with their closest game of the Olympics, a 69-62 victory over France. The quarterfinals start Wednesday. From now on, any loss eliminates a team from gold medal contention. Poland also made the quarterfianls and will play Australia. "We set as our minimum reaching the quarterfinals," Dydek said. "We had one bad day, the game against Russia." Russia beat Poland 84-46 last Monday. Poland frustrated the United States early with a 2-3 zone that forced the Americans to the perimeter and prevented them from getting the ball inside. The outside shots didn't fall and Poland trailed just 12-10 after 7 1/2 minutes. But a zone is useless against a fast break, and once the Americans got theirs going, Poland was left trailing in its wake. Then the outside shots started dropping and the United States broke it open. A 20-4 run highlighted by fast breaks and crisp passing in half-court sets stretched the lead to 32-14. The Americans finished that run with 12 straight points, all with Dydek on the bench. That opened things up for Leslie and she took advantage. She sank a jumper from the left corner, hit two free throws after being fouled on a drive to the basket and nailed a 3-pointer from the right side. Smith had started the burst with a 3-pointer from the left corner, the United States' first basket from behind the arc after five straight misses. Consecutive 3s by Swoopes and Dawn Staley made it 38-16, and the United States led 44-21 at the half.
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