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Thursday, September 21
Starzz center nets 20 points, 12 boards
Associated Press
SYDNEY, Australia -- Margo Dydek and Poland made an
impressive Olympic debut.
Dydek, the 7-foot-2 center for the WNBA's Utah Starzz, scored 20
points and grabbed 12 rebounds as Poland beat New Zealand 75-52
Saturday (Friday night U.S. time) in the women's Olympic basketball debut
for both countries.
Poland, with Dydek dominating inside, took a 25-3 lead and was
up 43-23 at halftime, holding New Zealand to 19 percent shooting (5-for-26).
New Zealand opened the second half with a 10-0 run to close to 10 points, but Dydek and Joanna Cuprys each had six points in a 14-0
run that put Poland back in control.
Cuprys, who scored all but one of her 16 points in the second
half, had two of her three 3-pointers in the run.
"It was very important for us to play well in our Olympic
debut. You can't compare the Olympics to anything," Poland coach
Tomasz Herkt said. "The first 10 minutes determined the final
result, but it got dangerous in the first part of the second half,
but we were able to maintain the lead with 3-point shots."
Julie Ofsoski had 13 points to lead New Zealand, which shot just
26 percent from the field (15-for-58), a lot of the misses because
of Dydek's presence inside.
"Playing against a 7-foot woman is not what you come across
every day," said 6-2 New Zealand center Gina Farmer, who had eight
points on 3-for-13 shooting.
Brazil 76, Slovakia 60
Janeth Arcain scored 24 points to lead Brazil, the 1996 silver
medalists. Arcain, who plays for the WNBA's Houston Comets, capped
the game with her only 3-pointer, a 60-foot heave at the buzzer.
She had 15 points in the first half as Brazil took a 35-28 lead.
Marta Sobral scored six of her eight points in a 13-3 run that gave
Brazil a 55-37 lead with 9:15 to play. Slovakia, which was making
its debut in women's Olympic basketball, closed to 65-56 with 2:22
left, but Arcain, who also had seven points and five assists, had
seven points in Brazil's closing run.
Alessandra Olivera added 12 points for Brazil.
Martina Luptakova had 22 points for Slovakia, while Martina
Godalyova added 19.
France 75, Senegal 39
Nicole Antibe scored 13 points to lead France to the easy victory in
another matchup of countries making their debut in women's Olympic
basketball.
France used a speed advantage to take a 42-21 lead, taking 20
more free throws in the first half than Senegal, which was called
for 25 fouls in the game -- 16 more than France -- and committed 28
turnovers, 22 more than France. France scored 32 points off Senegal
turnovers.
Astou Ndiaye led Senegal with 11 points and seven rebounds.
Australia 78, Canada 46
The host country used some impressive defense to take command in
the first half. Australia held Canada to 25 percent shooting (7-for-28) and blocked seven shots as it took a 40-19 halftime lead.
Canada managed just one field goal over the final 4:50 of the half
as Australia closed with a 15-2 run, with Sandy Brondello scoring
six of the final eight points.
Brondello and Lauren Jackson each had 18 points to lead
Australia, the bronze medalists in 1996. Jenny Whittle finished
with four of Australia's eight blocked shots.
Stacey Dales, who plays at the Oklahoma, and Tammy Sutton-Brown,
who plays at Rutgers, each had 13 points for Canada, which finished
11th at the Atlanta Games. Canada finished 20-for-56 from the field
(35.7 percent) and committed 23 turnovers.
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