Thanks for following along with the liveblog.
Spain will look to get back in the win column on Wednesday against China. The U.S. will take on Serbia, the team that previously lost to Spain.
The U.S. has won its two games by a combined 105 points. Good luck to Serbia. And good luck to whoever has to set point spreads for these games.
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FINAL: USA 103-63 Spain
The U.S. outscored Spain 29-12 in the fourth quarter, their biggest margin of the day. They didn’t let up on the gas.
Spain had a solid game ... through the first three quarters, at least. But they’re the No. 3 ranked team in the world and lost by FORTY POINTS. Every other country is playing for silver. This game confirms that.
USA 101-62 Spain, 1:20 4th quarter
And there’s the century mark for the U.S. Spain will, however, keep them from besting their Olympic record of 121 points, set yesterday against Senegal. Small victories.
USA 97-60 Spain, 2:20 4th quarter
Whalen now at 6 points thanks to an easy bucket down the lane. Spain doesn’t seem to have their hearts in it right now. Can’t really blame them.
USA 93-57 Spain, 4:24 4th quarter
The U.S. is frustrating Spain with its switching defense creating back-to-back turnovers. Not only does Team USA features better athletes with better skills, but they’ve adjusted to the game better as time has gone on. Impossible to beat that.
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USA 91-57 Spain, 5:24 4th quarter
McCoughtry scores on an assist from Moore. Great defense by Spain, but a better finish. The final score won’t reflect how well Spain did at points this game. In fact, the current score doesn’t.
USA 86-53 Spain, 6:53 4th quarter
U.S. now just picking Spain apart in transition and in offensive sets, much of it by some wizardry from Maya Moore.
It’s a 12-2 run to put the lead to 33 points. The dam has broken.
USA 76-51 Spain, 9:50 4th quarter
Tina Charles and Maya Moore immediately connect on a beautiful backdoor play. A team with this much talent ultimately doesn’t need a coach, but credit to Geno Auriemma for drawing that up before the quarter started.
End of the 3rd quarter: USA 74-51 Spain
U.S. won that quarter by six points. They won the second quarter by two and the first quarter by 15. Spain continues to play solid basketball, but the U.S. is slowly putting them away with surgical precision. Spain isn’t giving up, but it has to be frustrating. The U.S. can clear its bench, but still put out five more WNBA stars with every lineup combo.
USA 72-48 Spain 48, 1:05 3rd quarter
After a Torrens drive comes up short, U.S. quickly flies back in transition and gets two points from Delle Donne on an easy lay-up. This team is so good at capitalizing on any mistake, any opening.
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USA 67-48 Spain, 2:45 3rd quarter
There’s two more from Torrens. She was 3-for-10 for just 7 points in Spain’s opening win. Today: 6-for-11 for 20 points. She has definitely risen to the competition.
USA 67-46 Spain, 3:23 3rd quarter
Tamika Catchings has entered the game for the U.S., their last player off the bench. If you’re following the U.S. men’s team, Catchings is in the victory cigar/Harrison Barnes role this year.
USA 67-44 Spain, 4:13 3rd quarter
Torrens hits two free throws. She now has 16 on the game and leads all scorers. Her efforts likely won’t be enough to matter today, but she’ll be a handful for every other team as Spain looks to medal.
USA 65-41 Spain, 5:19 3rd quarter
Ndour now has four fouls for Spain and is out of the game. That’s a huge loss for Spain. She been big on the boards and has contributed 9 points.
USA 63-41 Spain, 5:36 3rd quarter
U.S. quickly extending the lead, at 22 it’s now the biggest of the game. Taurasi has three threes. Yesterday she hit five, setting the single-game Olympic record for the U.S.
USA 61-41 Spain, 6:06 3rd quarter
Griner picks up her second foul of the half and third of the game, sending her to the bench. But the U.S. depth is insane, so they just replace her with Fowles.
USA 56-39 Spain, 8:10 3rd quarter
After that ugly flurry, the teams trade three pretty possessions and the U.S. has an early 4-2 lead in the third quarter.
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Second half underway!
Sloppy start to the half with a U.S. miss followed by an ugly Spain possession followed by a U.S. turnover.
There’s a good chance that Florida State’s head coach is pulling for Spain in this game.
Your 2 biggest fans are on their way @Leonorspain @LeticiaRomero95 #Rio2016 #NoleFam pic.twitter.com/FSZMDu0OvM
— Sue Semrau (@CoachSueFSU) August 7, 2016
Some more context on how difficult this matchup is for Spain:
Alba Torrens is leading all scorers with 13 points. Ndour is leading all players with 5 rebounds. Spain is shooting 62.5% from three and they have 8 offensive rebounds. Yet they’re still down 17 points. That’s the frustration of playing the U.S. women’s team. Even if you play your best, it might not be enough.
Halftime: USA 54-37 Spain
Spain only dropped the second quarter by 2 points after trailing by 15 after the first quarter. That will give Auriemma some nits to pick in the U.S. locker room at the half.
Spain is playing well. But the U.S. has so much talent -- and talent that spaces well and moves the ball -- that it’s almost impossible to hang with them.
USA 51-37 Spain, 1:25 2nd quarter
There’s a three from Romero. She has 7 points off the bench and will likely be getting heavy minutes in the second half.
USA 49-34 Spain, 1:48 2nd quarter
Spain continues to hang around. Their latest bucket is on a deep jumper from Leticia Romero, a former player at Florida State.
The way Sue Bird moves on the court - running, laterally, weak side D, even high fives - reminds me so much of Steve Nash.
— Doug Eberhardt (@ebehoops) August 8, 2016
Maybe the Los Angeles Sparks will acquire her long after her prime.
USA 47-30 Spain, 2:55 2nd quarter
Spain calls timeout after a bad turnover leads to a lay-up for Angel McCoughtry.
USA 43-28 Spain, 3:45 2nd quarter
With Spain gaining momentum, Ndour puts up an airball from three. So much for my thought that she should shoot more from out there. Then Griner immediately responds with an easy bucket in the lane. She has 10 points and leads all scorers.
USA 41-28 Spain, 4:50 2nd quarter
Taurasi hits another three. She is now 7-for-10 from long distance in the Olympics.
Spain is actually winning this quarter by 2 points so far more than halfway through. The U.S. lead is down to 13.
USA 38-23 Spain, 6:20 2nd quarter
Spain gets a point off a free throw after an unsportsman like conduct technical was called on Diana Taurasi. She tripped a Team Spain player, but it’s unclear if it was intentional.
USA 38-22 Spain, 6:55 2nd quarter
Back-to-back buckets by Seimone Augustus puts the U.S. back up by 16.
USA 36-22 Spain, 7:19 2nd quarter
Spain’s center Ndour hits her second three of the game. She’s 2-for-2 from three and 0-for-5 from inside three. Maybe it’s time for a position change.
USA 33-19 Spain, 8:26 2nd quarter
Spain’s captain Palau hits a jumper in the lane to end the drought. After a U.S. bucket, Spain comes right back with a three from Dominguez.
USA 31-14 Spain, 9:21 2nd quarter
Spain has now missed its last seven shots. They’re at 27.8% on the game. So it doesn’t look like their woeful shooting from their opener was an aberration.
End of the 1st quarter: USA 29-14 Spain
The U.S. closes on a 16-4 run. Spain hit a three at the buzzer, but it was after the buzzer.
Team USA beat Senegal in the opener by 65. This one is on pace to be a 60-point victory.
USA 27-14 Spain, 1:01 1st quarter
The U.S. gets a basket by Fowles after Spain has a careless turnover stepping on the sideline while inbounding the ball. And the blowout is underway. Looks like I was wrong about it not happening in the first quarter.
USA 22-14 Spain, 2:19 1st quarter
Spain gets two points on two free throws from Torrens but Taurasi one-ups her with a quick three.
The U.S. is dominating the boards so far with an 11-5 advantage. And Ndour has four of Spain’s five boards.
USA 19-12 Spain, 3:03 1st quarter
Elena Delle Donne just hit two from the line to give the U.S. its biggest lead of the game.
Delle Donne came in off the bench for Tina Charles. Yes, the U.S. brings the WNBA MVP off the bench. They’re pretty loaded.
USA 13-10 Spain, 4:15 1st quarter
Torres takes most of the U.S. team to the basket for a tough lay-up. Spain isn’t letting a blowout happen in the 1st quarter.
USA 13-8 Spain, 5:10 1st quarter
Sue Bird hits a three for the U.S. She was the last player to score in the opener. Not today.
USA 10-8 Spain, 5:40 1st quarter
Griner has 8 points and 2 rebounds already. Spain is struggling to contain her inside. So they’re like every other team in the world in that way.
Spain 8-6 USA, 7:05 1st quarter
Ndour, Spain’s center by way of San Antonio of the WNBA, hits a wide open three. You have to like a center with range.
Spain 5-4 USA, 8:10 1st quarter
Spain has the lead on a basket by Torrens and a three by Palau. This is already tougher for the U.S. than the Senegal game.
USA 2-0 Spain, 9:20 1st quarter
Taurasi picks up where she left off in the opener with a jumper at the elbow to open the scoring. The defender was all over her, but the shot still hit nothing but net.
Here's the tip!
Griner wins the tip back to Sue Bird and we’re underway. The U.S. makes a quick turnover out of bounds and Spain has the ball.
Here are your starters for the U.S.: Sue Bird, Maya Moore, Diana Taurasi, Tina Charles and Brittney Griner.
For Spain: Laura Nicholls, Alba Torrens, Laia Palau, Anna Cruz and Astou Ndour.
Updated
This game tips at Noon local time in Rio. On a Monday. It will be interesting to see if the teams come out a bit sluggish. Obviously, one of them can’t afford to.
Spain has to feel fortunate to enter this game at 1-0. In the opener against Serbia, Team Spain shot 32% from the floor and 21% from three. If those numbers are similar today, the U.S. may be looking at another laugher.
Updated
The U.S. so dominated Senegal in the team’s opener, shooting 64.8% from the field, that head coach Geno Auriemma was cracking jokes after the game:
“I told them at halftime that I was really disappointed with our offensive rebounding, and we better pick that up. Because I was really upset, because we missed three or four 2-point shots the whole first half. It was crazy. It was really fun to watch.”
The U.S. team is stocked with stars, of course. But Spain has a couple of players that WNBA fans may recognize.
Astou Ndour is a 6-5 center for the San Antonio Stars averaging 2.8 ppg this season. And Marta Xargay Casademont is a 5-11 guard for the Phoenix Mercury who has averaged 6.2 ppg so far this year. Both will have to have big games to keep Spain close.
Welcome to the liveblog for today’s women’s basketball game between the United States and Spain. Both teams enter the game 1-0.
The U.S. destroyed Senegal yesterday by the score of 121-56. Spain defeated European champion Serbia in a tight game, 65-59. Team Spain should give the U.S. a stiffer test than they had yesterday. What that means, exactly, we shall see. A win by less than 50? Thirty? If you’re the gambling sort, the U.S. enters the game as 23 1/2-point favorites.
Please feel free to interact during the game. You can e-mail me at dj.gallo.casual@theguardian.com or tweet me at @djgalloetc.
DJ will be here shortly. In the meantime, read how the US women set a scoring record against Senegal:
