SYDNEY — The United States is quickly identifying itself as a stellar defensive squad by using its athleticism to make it difficult for opponents to score.
Shakira Austin scored 19 points, Kahleah Copper added 16 and the U.S. played suffocating defense to rout Puerto Rico 106-42 on Friday in the FIBA Women’s World Cup.
“We talk every day about being hard to play against, getting deflections, and the team has really bought into that,” U.S. coach Cheryl Reeve said.
The Americans (2-0) forced Puerto Rico into 21 turnovers and contested nearly every shot, making every point tough to come by.
“It’s fun playing on a team that loves to play defense. It really fuels our offense,” said Alyssa Thomas, who had six of the Americans’ 13 steals.
The U.S. jumped out to a 27-11 lead after one quarter as Thomas had 10 points and five steals in the opening 10 minutes. The Americans forced nine turnovers in the period. The U.S. kept the pressure on in the second, holding Puerto Rico without a point for nearly the first five minutes of the period.
Mya Hollingshed finally ended the drought, making a contested 3-pointer that made it 40-17. The Americans led 54-21 at the half. There was little drama in the second half as the U.S. kept extending its lead.
The Americans contained guard Arella Guirantes, who had 26 points, nine rebounds and eight assists in Puerto Rico’s opening win over Bosnia and Herzegovina. She was held to seven points on 2-of-12 shooting. The U.S. threw four or five different defenders at her, starting with Copper.
“We like to be aggressive on both ends,” Breanna Stewart said. “We can and will guard multiple positions and make it hard for the other team. Our activity and awareness of one and another on the defensive end will go a long way in the tournament.”
MORE: FIBA Women’s World Cup schedule, results
The U.S. now has won 24 consecutive World Cup games since losing in the 2006 semifinals to Russia. The Americans are two wins short of matching their record 26-game run from 1998-2006.
Puerto Rico (1-1) was coming off its first-ever World Cup win. Hollingshed, who played in college at Colorado, finished with 10 points.
“The U.S. is the most important team in the tournament, but for us we are just trying to win one more game,” Puerto Rico captain Pamela Rosado said.
REINFORCEMENTS
Chelsea Gray and Kelsey Plum landed in Sydney after celebrating the Las Vegas Aces’ first WNBA championship with a parade on Tuesday. They sat on the U.S. bench and cheered on their teammates. A’ja Wilson, the third member of the championship team, was expected to land in Sydney later Friday.
“We’ll get some time in the morning with them before we play against a really good China team tomorrow,” Reeve said. “The depth will be helpful.”
BENCH PLAY
Led by Austin, the U.S. reserves outscored Puerto Rico’s 47-21. Brionna Jones added 15 points and nine boards.
RECORD WATCH
As good as the U.S. defense was, it wasn’t the lowest scoring total by an American opponent. Argentina had 22 points in 1953. … The Americans also fell short of the margin-of-victory record held by the 2014 team that beat Angola 119-44. … Thomas also fell one short of the U.S. record for steals in a game set by Cheryl Miller in 1986. Tamika Catchings had six against Russia in 2002. Olga Gomez of Cuba holds the World Cup record of 10 against France in 1994.
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Jennifer Valente, who in Tokyo became the first U.S. woman to win Olympic track cycling gold, added a world title in the same event, the omnium, on Friday.
“I achieved the Olympic dream before this one, but this really had been on the forefront of my mind for a long time,” she said, according to USA Cycling.
Valente, 27, prevailed at the world championships in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France, one day after taking bronze in a separate elimination race, which is not on the Olympic program.
The omnium, which debuted at the Olympics in 2012, is an event consisting of four races that take place on the same day: the scratch race, the tempo race, the elimination race and the points race. For the first three races, riders earn 40 points for a win, 38 for second and 36 for third and on down a descending scale.
In the final 80-lap points race, points are awarded for a sprint every 10 laps, including double points for the last sprint. Cyclists also gain and lose points by lapping the field or getting lapped.
Valente led by eight points over Dutchwoman Maike van der Duin going into the points race. She ended up winning by nine over van der Duin.
Valente, who took world championships bronze in the event in 2019, is the second American to win a world omnium title after Sarah Hammer in 2013 and 2014 (the last time an American won a world title in an individual track cycling event on the Olympic program).
Valente previously won four world titles in the team pursuit.
“The team gold medal is special in a completely different way,” Valente said, according to USA Cycling. “Every team world title that I’ve won has been with a really special group of people. But this is just a completely different experience.”
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🌈🇺🇸 Jennifer Valente 🇺🇸🌈
2022 UCI Women’s Omnium World Champion 🙌#AQY2022 pic.twitter.com/sRqeKyVb0l
— UCI Track Cycling (@UCI_Track) October 14, 2022
Mike Keenan was named coach of the Italy men’s ice hockey team on Friday, giving the Stanley Cup winner a chance to guide the host country at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics.
Keenan, who will be 76 in 2026, last coached China-based Kunlun Red Star in the KHL in 2017.
“I’ve had a lot of great international experiences but this is both a challenge and a unique opportunity for me,” Keenan said. “I’m excited to be involved in a building and development process in the run up to an Olympics. . . . Every once in a while, miracles happen. Italy is a nation passionate about sports so that’s why I want to set high expectations.”
Keenan coached the New York Rangers to the Stanley Cup in 1994 and also won the KHL at Metallurg Magnitogorsk in 2014.
Italy finished 11th in the 12-team tournament at the 2006 Torino Games when it also qualified as host. That was the team’s previous participation at the Olympics.
After finishing last in its group at the world championship in May, Italy was relegated to the Division I worlds for next year.
Greg Ireland, Italy’s previous coach, left to lead Kunlun Red Star.
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