Final thoughts
Well, not a lot to really analyze today, the difference in talent between the two clubs was clearly evident all game long. Credit the US for not slacking no matter how big their lead ballooned, and also to Senegal for never appearing demoralized. Next up for the women’s team: they will face Spain on Monday at 11:00am EST. And that’s going to do it for this liveblog however, thanks to everybody who followed along today. Ciao!
US wins!
USA 121-56 Senegal, FINAL
The US get their 10th three-pointer of the game but it’s Senegal who make the final shot, also a three-point. But it’s still a 65 point difference between the two teams, another US Olympics record.
USA 117-50 Senegal, 1:05, 4th quarter
Senegal picks up another three-pointer here. Nobody is playing like they’re demoralized on their side. Neither are the Senegal fans, who celebrate when their country makes a second straight basket to hit the 50 point mark.
USA 117-43 Senegal, 2:05, 4th quarter
And with a three-pointer, what else, the US break their old record.
USA 114-43 Senegal, 3:05, 4th quarter
Breanna Stewart to the line, making one of two free throws. The US has now tied its old record for the most points in an Olympics game.
USA 111-43 Senegal, 4:09, 4th quarter
Whalen contributes some free throws to the US points total.
USA 109-43 Senegal, 4:27, 4th quarter
Nice fast break layup for Senegal, a brief moment of positivity for this team who had the misfortune of having their first game against this US buzz saw.
USA 108-41 Senegal, 5:32, 4th quarter
Sue Bird with the US’s 8th three-pointer of the game. It’s impossible to overstate how dominant the US have been today.
USA 105-41 Senegal, 6:17, 4th quarter
Aida Fall fouls out for Senegal, she’s been really impressive all game long, those fouls are a sign of just how physically involved she’s been today. Delle Donne hits a three for the US.
USA 102-41 Senegal, 7:23, 4th quarter
Tamika Catchings gets to the line and makes two free throws. Angel McCoughtry gets the ball and goes all the way to the other end of the floor for a basket. The USA hit the 100 mark and then break it thanks to Sue Bird’s first basket of the game.
USA 96-41 Senegal, 8:31, 4th quarter
Aya Traore with a long three to kick off the scoring in the fourth. USA scores on the opposite end. That record is definitely a possibility here.
USA 94-38 Senegal, 9:23, 4th quarter
And the fourth quarter begins almost immediately. Wow, I’m so used to loooong commercial breaks.
Email from Katie Patykus:
I’m reading off your live comments to our excited 11 year-old basketball playing daughter...thank you for doing this!
USA 94-38 Senegal, end of the 3rd quarter
Sylvia Fowles to the line, she makes one of two free throws. Whalen turns the ball over but Senegal can’t find a way to
The US women’s Olympics record is 114 points. Could they possible break it this game?
USA 93-38 Senegal, 36.2, 3rd quarter
Senegal’s Aida Fall for a Senegal basket, that’s 14 points for her. Credit to Senegal for keeping on playing here.
USA 89-36 Senegal, 2:05, 3rd quarter
Senegal scores but the US, who are playing this as if it’s all knotted up and heading down to the wire, scores and gets a free throw for an old-fashioned three point play.
USA 84-34 Senegal, 2:50, 3rd quarter
Lindsay Whalen with a sweet cut to the basket. and it’s now a 50 point US lead. Yikes.
USA 82-34 Senegal, 3:30, 3rd quarter
Nice spin move from Tina Charles. With the game now very clearly on hand, it’s probably time to just appreciate the game from an aesthetic level rather than as a competition. It’s just a treat to watch some of the best women’s basketball players on the planet working together with the spotlight firmly on them.
Email from Melanie & John & Family:
Mr. Felt, thanks for the live blog. Senegal has talent, but I venture to guess that much less training and money are invested in their skills. Title IX, which mandates that U.S. public schools must spend equally on girls’ and boys’ athletics, has helped make our women’s pro teams--basketball and international football, anyway--the powerhouses they are today. (The story goes that U.C. Berkeley’s WBB team visited Senegal about 10 years ago, beat their national team, then took off their expensive Nikes and gave them to the Senegalese players.)
Good points here. It should be noted that the Senegal’s women team is actually more successful than their men’s team, they’ve consistently won FIBA’s African tournaments.
USA 73-27 Senegal, 6:16, 3rd quarter
Tina Charles misses but Maya Moore gets the outback. Some great team basketball being played here, it should be noted.
USA 71-27 Senegal, 6:50, 3rd quarter
Hey this is as close as Senegal has gotten to run, getting a basket and two free throws to go on a 4-0 run. Hey, it’s baby steps here.
USA 71-23 Senegal, 7:45, 3rd quarter
Senegal gets to the line for two free throws then forces a turnover on the other end. One of the best sequences for Senegal all game long, probably…
But they give it up on the other end. Griner misses an open layup but USA has the rebound and Taurasi gets her record fifth three.
USA 68-21 Senegal, 8:37, 3rd quarter
Taurasi has a look for her record 5th three, but gives it to Griner for an easy score.
Second half begins!
SA 66-21 Senegal, 9:48, 3rd quarter
Brittney Griner gets fouled and goes to the line to increase the USA lead.
Meanwhile on the Senegal side, they’ve made 16 turnovers to the USA’s… um 3. That strikes me as unsustainable.
Oh man, now there’s a feature on the late Pat Summitt’s Olympics career. I already teared up during yesterday’s tribute to the ailing Craig Sager, I can’t afford to get weepy again here.
The story of the game so far is Diana Taurasi, who has scored 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the three-point line. Steph Curry wishes he could do that.
Halftime!
USA 64-21 Senegal, end of the 2nd quarter
The bad news was that my feed completely crashed and I missed the last few minutes of the first half. The good news is that I clearly didn’t miss much. Senegal got in just one more shot before the break and this one’s almost over already.
USA 53-19 Senegal, 3:17, 2nd quarter
Things ar eno getting any brighter for Senegal here. USA vs China is starting to look like a nail biter in comparison.
USA 41-16 Senegal, 6:36, 2nd quarter
Hey, there’s two more free throws for Senegal that helps. And then the US actually turns the ball over. A rare misstep.
USA 39-14 Senegal, 7:09, 2nd quarter
And the Olympics never truly begins until the NBC live stream goes down for no reason what-so-ever. When the action returns, it’s obvious that Senegal hasn’t done much in the interval to make this game a close one.
USA 35-9 Senegal, end of the 1st quarter
Gonna have to give a lot of credit to the US defense which has been absolutely stifling.
USA 33-9 Senegal, 7,9, 1st quarter
Delle Donne to the line, knocks down two free throws. Hey, Senegal actually gets some free throws, she knocks them both both down.
USA 31-7 Senegal, 42.3, 1st quarter
Whalen scores out of the break. Oumou Toure hits a rare basket for Senegal, but the US responds almost immediately. This is way out of hand already.
USA 27-5 Senegal, 2:11, 1st quarter
Taurasi to Elena Delle Donna who hits a beautiful floater. The US follows up wit another basket and we come to a brief break in the action.
USA 23-5 Senegal, 2:46, 1st quarter
Whalen misses on the US end. A rare fruitless possession this game. Deep three from Taurasi, her fourth three-pointer of the game. Almost tying her own record and we’re not even in the second quarter.
USA 20-5 Senegal, 4:18, 1st quarter
Maya Moore gets involved, gets a second chance bucket for the US. Senegal turns the ball over once again, they can’t afford to do that at all against this US offense if they want to stay in the game.
USA 18-5 Senegal, 5:19, 1st quarter
Griner with a put-in and this is getting out of hand quickly. Then, finally, Astou Traroe scores to stop the Senegal scoring drought.
But Grinner gets to the line to add to the US lead.
Updated
USA 14-2 Senegal, 6:45, 1st quarter
Tina Charles with a steal and a score. Senegal misses on their end.
Updated
USA 12-2 Senegal, 6:57, 1st quarter
Taurasi hits another three and Senegal takes a timeout.
USA 9-2 Senegal, 7:30, 1st quarter
Several threes so far with the US, going for the Warriors game plan.
Opening tip
USA 3-0 Senegal, 9:29, 1st quarter
And we’re off! USA scores first, a bucket and a foul.
Diana Taurasi says this might be the best women’s basketball lineup ever, but also notes that she says this every Olympics.
Without warning, the livestream starts several minutes before 11am, jarring your commentator awake. Limited interruptions thanks to Kelloggs, who definitely figured in this Eastern Time game start time into their plans.
This is the closest thing the Olympics committee will allow to in-game .gifs, I believe:
⏰15 MINUTES until tipoff!
— U.S. Olympic Team (@TeamUSA) August 7, 2016
Women's @usabasketball is READY! 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/JIpvRXcoY9
Predictions
Normally when we ask for predictions, we’re looking to see who people think will win. That might not be the case with these Olympics. What will probably make for a more, uh, plausible debate is whether or not these games will… well, be games. Certainly USA vs China on the male side of things went about how everyone expected (i.e. not well for China). This should be at least a tad closer, I think. Should still be in double digits in favor of USA, I would think.
Your thoughts? You can tweet them to @HunterFelt or email them to Hunter.Felt@theguardian.com and we’ll use them here.
I want to take this time before the game starts to salute the true heroes of these Olympics: friends, family and co-workers who have bravely given out their cable passwords to others so they can actually watch NBC’s livestreams. You are all the real MVPs.
I’ll admit to being slightly more familiar with the names on the US side here:
US women’s team
F Seimone Augustus (Minnesota Lynx)
G Sue Bird (Seattle Storm)
F Tamika Catchings (Indiana Fever)
C Tina Charles (New York Liberty)
G/F Elena Delle Donne (Chicago Sky)
C Sylvia Fowles (Minnesota Lynx)
C Brittney Griner (Phoenix Mercury)
F Angel McCoughtry (Atlanta Dream)
F Maya Moore (Minnesota Lynx)
F/C Breanna Stewart (Seattle Storm)
G Diana Taurasi (Phoenix Mercury)
G Lindsay Whalen (Minnesota Lynx)
Senegal women’s basketball team roster:
Maimouna Diarra
Bintou Dieme
Fatou Dieng
Diodio Diouf
Aida Fall
Marie-Sadio Rosche
Mame Marie Sy
Oumoul Thiam
Oumou Toure
Astou Traore
Aya Traore
Lala Wane
Preamble
Yesterday the US Men’s Basketball Team kicked off their quest for Olympic gold with a blowout win over China yesterday. Today it the women’s team time to shine as they start their run with today’s game against Senegal.
Although they are overshadowed by the big names on the men’s team, this women’s team is, once again, a collection of some the best women’s players on the planet, at true murderer’s row that includes Maya Moore (Minnesota Lynx), Breanna Stewart (Seattle Storm), Brittney Griner (Phoenix Mercury), Diana Taurasi (Phoenix Mercury) and Sue Bird, in what will almost certainly will be her last trip to the Olympics as a competitor.
In other words, it’s very very difficult to imagine the US women’s team dropping a single game in the next few weeks, let alone failing to win the gold. So, Senegal, who qualified for the Olympics after defeating Cameroon in the 2015 Women’s AfroBasket tournament are very much the underdogs here today.
But, still, they have to play the games, right? We want to hear from you throughout today’s liveblog, just send out your questions, comments, critiques and what-nots either via email (to Hunter.Felt@theguardian.com) or Twitter (@HunterFelt). USA vs. Senegal is set to start at 11:00am EST but we’ll be back before then with rosters and commentary before then.
Hunter will be here shortly, in the meantime here’s how the US men’s team got on last night:
There was a moment on Saturday night where the US’s basketball game against China was actually something resembling a competition. This was just after the tip-off when Klay Thompson took a wayward three-pointer and China’s forward Yanyuhang Ding was fouled and hit two free throws. A huge roar filled the crowd in Carioca Arena 1. Many of the fans jumped to their feet as if somehow, improbably the game would actually be close.
Then the US started to run. And run. And run. By the time it was over, they had beaten China 119-62 in a game that was nowhere as close as the score.
The idea that anyone in these Olympics can somehow challenge the US’s basketball superiority is ridiculous. China aren’t one of the best teams in the tournament, but they are young and fast and have some intriguing players. And yet whatever promise China might have was lost in a flurry of long passes and dunks by the US players, who seemed almost to hold back rather than humiliate their vanquished opponent.
Read the full report here:
