U.S. erushes Russia in world basketball
Martin Fackler, Associated Press, Shanghai, China
Lisa Leslie scored 20 points to lead the United States to a 89-55 thrashing of Russia on Saturday, the first day of the 2002 Women's World Basketball Championship.
Leslie, a 6-foot-5-inch (196 centimeter) center who plays for the WNBA Los Angeles Sparks, scored 11 points in the third quarter alone.
Also guiding the U.S. attack was Sheryl Swoopes, who scored 17 points. Swoopes is a forward and guard who plays for the Houston Comets.
The defending world champions took an early lead and never looked back, leading 48-28 at the half. The Americans are coming off a gold medal last week at the World Challenge in Sydney, Australia.
The U.S. defense forced 20 turnovers. Russian top-scorer Elena Baranova was limited to 11 points - below the 6-foot-5-inch (196 centimeter) center's average of 15 points a game.
Russia's Oksana Zakaluzhnaya was her team's second-highest scorer with 10 points.
The world championship, held at sites around China's eastern province of Jiangsu, ends Sept. 25. The United States is aiming for its seventh gold medal since the championship began in 1953.
Saturday's win gave the United States a 3-0 record versus Russia in world championship play.
The other two wins came in the last Women's World Championship, in 1998 in Germany. That was the Russian women's first championship since 1990, the last time they appeared as the Soviet Union.
The Russians, who dominated the world championships in the 1960s through 1980s as the Soviet Union, won a silver in the 1998 World Championship.
They clinched a berth in this world championship with a silver medal in last year's European championship.
Australia, which placed second in last week's World Challenge, beat Spain 73-58.
Australian forwards Penny Taylor and Trisha Fallon led with 14 points apiece as the Sydney Olympics silver medalists led the entire 90-minute contest.
Brazil held off a third-quarter rally by host China to win 85- 73. Janeth Arcain, a 5-foot-11-inch (180 centimeter) guard with the Houston Comets, led the Brazilians with 22 points.
The Chinese, who trailed by as many as 19 points in the first half, pulled back to within six before Brazil widened the gap.
Agne Abromait scored 16 of her 17 points in the first quarter to lead Lithuania to a 92-80 win over Taiwan.
The Lithuanian women are appearing in their first world championship since their country's independence from the Soviet Union more than a decade ago.
In other games, South Korea blew out Tunisia 124-70; Argentina topped Japan 74-65 and Yugoslavia beat Senegal 94-66. 2001 European champion France defeated Cuba 92-61.