U.S. starts slow, ends strong

The women's basketball team improved to 3-0 with the win over South Korea.
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- South Korea took an early lead, so did the Czech Republic. Hey, even New Zealand had the U.S. women's basketball team down for a while.
If nothing else, these Olympics have shown that how the Americans start a game has nothing to do with how they finish it. They'll get it going eventually -- just like they did on Wednesday.
South Korea led 23-20 after one quarter. From then on, it was a rout. The United States outscored the Koreans 60-34 over the final three quarters in an 80-57 blowout.
"You have to adjust to different styles of play as well as find our own rhythm," forward Tina Thompson said. "It's not like we're always going to come out and blow teams out. Sometimes we have to wear them down."
So far, so good. On Wednesday, the missions was accomplished by getting the ball inside to Thompson and Lisa Leslie, who scored on a succession of close-in shots. Leslie finished with 25 points on 11-for-13 shooting. Thompson had 18.
That combination was more than enough to offset the team's pitiful 3-for-20 3-point shooting and South Korea's fast start.
Nice adjustment
The Koreans shot 6-for-13 from 3-point range in the first half and had the Americans chasing them all over the court. But the U.S. players made a change in the second half, switching on screens instead of trying to fight through them, and limited South Korea to three 3-pointers the rest of the way.
Throw in a 19-2 run at the start of the second half and, well, that was the ball game.
"Everybody has got to understand if we go down a little to not panic," guard Dawn Staley said. "That's one thing we can't do. Because for 40 minutes, no team here at the Olympics has the talent and the depth that we have."
Australia has been showing some talent and depth, too. Playing in the opposite pool, the Aussies have matched the Americans' 3-0 start and they're also winning impressively.
They beat Japan 97-78 on Wednesday behind 31 points from the Seattle Storm's Lauren Jackson, the WNBA's most valuable player last season.
Spain is the only other unbeaten team and plays the United States on Friday. With Madariaga Valdemoro resting the entire second half, Spain cruised to a 91-57 victory over New Zealand on Wednesday.
In other games Wednesday, Russia handed Brazil its first loss, 77-67; Greece overcame Mfon Udoka's 28 points and 18 rebounds to beat Nigeria 83-68; and the Czech Republic shot 56 percent in beating China 98-83.