U.S. Women's Finish Pool Play Undefeated

BEIJING (AP) Tina Thompson scored 10 of her 15 points during a 21-0 run in the second quarter and the U.S. women's basketball team beat New Zealand 96-60 on Sunday night.

The U.S. closed out pool play in the same fashion as all its other games in the Olympics - with a blowout. The Americans won the five games by an average of 43 points. With the exception of a rough first half against Spain and the first 3 minutes against the Czech Republic, the U.S. looked unbeatable.

The U.S. will play South Korea in the quarterfinals Tuesday night. The South Koreans advanced to the next round by holding off Latvia 72-68 on Sunday.

New Zealand was able to hang tight with the U.S. for a quarter behind hot shooting. They were 8-for-16 in the first quarter and only trailed by five at the end of the period.

The U.S. then took over in the second quarter turning up their defensive intensity. Lisa Wallbutton's jumper with 7:29 left in the period cut New Zealand's deficit to 29-22 before the Americans scored 21 straight points.

Lisa Leslie started the run with a layup and then Thompson hit three layups and two jumpers over the next 5 minutes as the U.S. stretched out its lead. Delisha Milton-Jones' reverse layup ended the run with 18 seconds left in the half and put the Americans up 50-22.

New Zealand (1-4) finally scored on Jillian Harmon's jumper from the corner just at the halftime buzzer. The Kiwis missed eight straight shots and had three turnovers during its drought.

The U.S. extended its lead in the third quarter to 38 in the third quarter behind Katie Smith, who had eight of her 13 points during the period.

Seimone Augustus added 12 and Tamika Catchings had 11 for the U.S.

Angela Marino led New Zealand with 17 points and Wallbutton added 14.

In other games, Australia defeated Russia 75-55, China beat the Czech Republic 79-63, Spain routed Mali 79-47, and Brazil topped Belarus 68-53.

Lauren Jackson scored 12 of her 16 points in the second half and Australia rallied past Russia to clinch the top seed in its pool.

With the victory, Australia (5-0) avoids having to play the U.S. until a possible showdown in the championship game.

"We all knew how big this game was," Jackson said. "Just to be able to get the top seed and not have to face the Americans till the gold-medal game is huge."

After a first half in which nothing went right and they trailed 37-25, the Aussies took control. They scored the first nine points of the third quarter, including five straight by Suzy Batkovic to close the gap.

"We weren't concerned at the half," said Jackson, who also grabbed 14 rebounds and blocked three shots. "We just knew we had to buckle down on defense and get stops to fuel our offense."

After two free throws by Russia, Jackson scored seven of the next 10 points for Australia. The reigning WNBA MVP's 3-pointer with 4:21 left gave Australia a 44-41 advantage - its first since early in the first quarter. By the quarter's end Australia led 55-47 as the Aussies outscored Russia 30-10 in the period.

Becky Hammon, an American turned naturalized Russian, led her team with 20 points and Svetlana Abrosimova added 16 points and nine rebounds. Russia dropped to 4-1.

Belinda Snell finished with 16 points and Batkovic added nine points and 10 rebounds for Australia, which held a 53-36 rebounding edge.

Spain (3-2) routed winless Mali 79-47 behind Amaya Valdemoro's 21 points. Djenebou Sissoko paced Mali (0-5) with 17 points. Brazil (1-4) finally won with a 68-53 victory over Belarus (2-3). Kelly Santos had 14 points for Brazil.

In the other quarterfinals games Tuesday, Australia will face the Czech Republic, Russia will play Spain, and China will meet Belarus.

Australia put the game away in the fourth quarter, going on a 10-4 run to start the period. Snell's jumper gave Australia a 65-51 lead with 6 minute left. Russia came no closer than 12 the rest of the game.