Americans set up gold medal matchup with Australia

A strong second half by the United States dispatches South Korea.

By Compiled from Times wires

© St. Petersburg Times, published September 30, 2000

SYDNEY, Australia -- The United States was too big, too quick, too talented and too deep for the opposition Friday -- surprise, surprise.

The Americans scored their sixth straight easy victory, 78-65 over South Korea, to advance to today's gold medal final.

The game was close for a half as the scrappy Koreans shot 8-for-15 from outside the three-point line, but steals and fast breaks led by Sheryl Swoopes and rebounding by supersub Natalie Williams broke it open in the second half.

The U.S. women's victories averaged 23 points, begging the question, can anybody stay with them?

The host Australians thought so and got the chance to prove it before a roaring partisan crowd at the Superdome after beating Brazil in their semifinal 64-52.

When asked if Australia had a strategy in mind to handle the United States, captain and reserve point guard Michelle Timms responded, "I guess the better question is, how do they think they're going to beat us?" They're deep, but we have a pretty deep bench, too. Our defense is better, but they have a better running game. We play a very similar style. It will be a deep-in-the-trenches game."

The Aussies also had an answer to the margins of victory the Americans had posted. The won their first six games by an average margin of 22 points.

"They're a good team," U.S. coach Nell Fortner said. "They're at home in a great arena at the biggest event in the world. (Six-foot-5 center Lauren) Jackson is a very nice player. We've got a lot of nice players. They earned where they are, and we earned where we are, so let's throw the ball up."

The Koreans pecked and hammered away at the taller, faster, more skilled Americans and strode proudly into the locker room at halftime trailing by two points. Guards Jung Ok-yang and Jung Eun-park were hitting three-pointers from outside the U.S. zone defense, so when the second half opened, Fortner switched to a tight man-to-man, and those opportunities vanished.

Swoopes, who led all scorers with 19 points and had 5 steals and 5 assists, stepped up the defensive pressure, and Williams moved inside to bang the backboards and work the lane offensively. The Koreans, with no starter taller than 6 feet 1, had no answer to the inside combination of the 6-2 Williams, 6-5 Lisa Leslie and 6-3 Yolanda Griffith.

The Americans bumped their lead from two points to 12, allowing just one South Korean three-pointer in the second half. The only negative came late in the game when Swoopes broke free for a layup, then fell to the floor clutching her left leg. She was helped off the court.

She watched the rest of the game with ice taped around the knee. She walked off the court afterward on her own, however, and even joined in the celebration.

Fortner said Swoopes had a minor recurring knee problem that wouldn't affect her play in the final.

"She's fine," Fortner said. "She has to be. We can't afford to lose her."

"The Koreans made us change our whole game plan," said Leslie, who was to be assigned to control Australia's Jackson. Asked if the nip-and-tuck first half surprised her, she said, "No. We had to wear them down. The U.S. is not so much better than the rest of the world that we can go in and win games in the first half."

Jackson, 19, has been playing professionally in Australia for three years and is expected to be a first-round pick in the next WNBA draft. "It's going to be Magic and Bird all over again," she said.

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