U.S. women beat France despite Bird’s injury

Associated Press

RIO DE JANEIRO

It’s rare to see the U.S. women’s basketball team struggle during the Olympics. Then again, they’ve had Sue Bird running the show for over a decade.

With the starting point guard sidelined with a knee injury, the Americans were out of sorts for a half before finally getting it together to pull away from France in an 86-67 win in the semifinals Thursday night. Now they’re back in the Olympic final once again, one victory away from a sixth consecutive gold medal.

U.S. coach Geno Auriemma made it a point, however, after the game to stress that unforeseen developments like Bird’s injury makes it a little bit harder than just who the U.S. will beat next and “when’s the gold medal ceremony.”

“It’s not like that,” Auriemma said, “and our players really found out today that without Sue it’s certainly not going to be like that. There’s a big difference in our team the way we played today and the way we played the other six games.”

Bird’s status for Saturday’s final versus Spain is unclear.

The US and Spain played in the preliminary round and the U.S. won that one by 40. The Americans also beat Spain in the 2014 world championship by 13.

“It’s going to be the same old dance,” Diana Taurasi said. “They have world class players. ... This is going to be a great game between great teams and great players alike.”

Taurasi scored 18 points and Maya Moore added 15 against France in what was the closest game of the Olympics for the Americans. It was a rematch of the 2012 London Games gold medal contest. The U.S. won that one by 36 points, but had a much harder time in this one without Bird.

The point guard sprained her right knee capsule in the quarterfinals and has been listed as day-to-day. She had started every game for the U.S. the past three Olympics and been a calming influence on offense for the Americans. Brid said she plans to practice Friday.

“I’m not going to be stupid about this,” Bird said. “It’s your body, you have to listen to it, you don’t want to put yourself in danger, but if I can play I’m definitely playing.”