The United States pulled away down the stretch to see off Turkey and extend their Olympic Games winning streak to 36 games with an 89-58 win Geno Auriemma's squad, seeking a fifth straight gold medal for the USA, still looked a way off their best but were nevertheless too strong for Turkey. Angel McCoughtry led the Americans with 18 points while Tina Charles had 16 and Lindsay Whalen 14. Turkey started strongly and led 10-6 when Emine Palazoglu sank a three-pointer midway through the first quarter. But the Americans began to find their rhythm and took over to extend their winning sequence. Earlier in the day, China stormed past Angola with a convincing display. What was a two-point game at half-time was far more one-sided at the end of the third quarter, with China outscoring the Africans 24-7 in the period to lead 57-37. Angola stemmed the flow in the final stages but the result was already beyond doubt. France were another team to make it through as they held off Canada down the stretch for their third straight win. Although France had led most of the way, Canada got the gap back to just two points in the final seconds before Les Bleus' experienced guard Celine Dumerc wrapped it up from the free-throw line. France built an early advantage and were up 11-4 after Sandrine Gruda scored a pair of free throws. But by the start of the second quarter, Canada had come back to hold a brief lead and the teams remained close throughout the second and third quarters. France started the fourth quarter with a two-point lead but quickly made it 50-43 on Isabelle Yacoubou's free throws before Canada came back again. They had chances to tie it down the stretch but, in a game where neither team hit a single three-pointer despite a combined 16 attempts, 11 by Canada, they could not make their shots. Australia bounced back from their upset defeat at the hands of France on Monday, but only just as they edged out Brazil. The Opals, winners of silver in the last three Olympic Games and ranked second in the world, were toppled 74-70 in overtime by France two days ago, and looked short of their best even as they got their Group B campaign back on track today with a 67-61 win. European champions Russia were given a thorough examination by Great Britain but eventually came through. Britain took advantage of a slow start from their opponents to jump into an early double-digit lead and thrill the partisan crowd. But Russia soon found their rhythm, and their shooting touch, to turn things around. Meanwhile, Czech Republic finally got off the mark as they came from behind to beat Croatia 89-70.
