OLYW - USA and China still on top of Group A

LONDON (Olympics) - Turkey didn't win their game against the United States on Wednesday evening but they gave the American team something to think about.

The United States pulled away in the fourth quarter for an 89-58 victory but late in the third, the Group A contest hung in the balance.

With just under three minutes remaining in the frame, a three-ball by Birsel Vardarli cut the USA lead to 50-45.

The United States kept their cool and reeled off 10 unanswered points to finish the quarter.

Geno Auriemma's side outscored Turkey 26-11 in the fourth quarter and ended up with a big margin of victory.

Angel McCoughtry finished with 18 points, Tina Charles 16 and Lindsay Whalen 14 for the USA, who won for the third time in as many games.

All three have connections to Turkey.

McCoughtry is on the books of Fenerbahce, while Charles spent last season with Galatasaray - the club Whalen will play for in the coming season.

Vardarli and Quanitra Hollingsworth finished with 11 points apiece for Turkey, who dropped to 2-1.

Hollingsworth also had eight rebounds.

USA superstar Diana Taurasi played last season for Galatasaray and the early part of the previous campaign with their Istanbul rivals, Fenerbahce.

She knows the players in the Turkey national side very well.

Taurasi wasn't surprised by Turkey's impressive showing, at least for three quarters.

"We expected that," Taurasi said.

"I'm friends with a lot of them, played against them for the last decade overseas and you just see Turkish basketball get better every year.

"That team is going to be around for a while.

"When you look at their talent and how young they are, they're only going to get better."

Turkey and the Americans could face each other again in the knockout round.

"I expect them to go really far in this tournament," Taurasi said.

"From all the teams that I've seen, no team plays better together than they do.

"And that comes from the experience they have with Birsel, Nev (Nevriye Yilmaz), Bahar.

"I mean, those guys have been playing together for the last 10 to 15 years, probably."

Turkey's new naturalized player, Hollingsworth, also had an impact.

"You just saw what "Q" can do, and that's pretty special," Taurasi said.

"And she's only going to get better."

In the first Group A game of the day, China won 76-52 over Angola.

The contest was tight at half-time with China on top, 33-31, but they started the second half with a 13-2 run and never turned back.

Ma Zengyu and Chen Nan poured in 15 points apiece.

Sonia Guadalupe had 12 to lead Angola.

"The first half, Angola played very well and we played the next half very well," China coach Sun Fengwu said.

Croatia gave the Czech Republic fits, leading by as many as 10 points, but ultimately fell away in the fourth quarter and lost 89-70.

Katerina Elhotova poured in 20 points for the Czechs with Ilona Burgrova adding 19 and Eva Viteckova 18.

Next up is a game against the United States on Friday, the team that beat the Czechs in the title game of the World Championship two years ago.

"I am estimating that the USA will dominate under the basket and that is something we have to be ready for," Elhotova said.

"And we must not fear them."

FIBA