The American women players defeated Spain 77-64 in the final of the Federation Internationale de Basketball World Championship for Women in Istanbul on Sunday to claim the top spot yet again.
Sunday's final in Istanbul started as expected with a high-tempo game. The U.S. team was able to get a 18-5 lead within the first five minutes, thanks to their shooting guard Maya Moore's outside scoring.
Moore finished the period with 11 points and Tina Charles, playing at center position, added eight points in the first period to give the U.S. a 28-17 lead.
The Americans pumped up the tempo in the second quarter as well, increasing the gap to 19 at the half with a score of 48-29. Moore had 16 points at the half.
Spain's women players showed little resilience in the third quarter with their power forward Sancho Lyttle's inside game, however, the U.S. team answered right back under point guard Diana Taurasi's leadership.
Spain's key player Alba Torrens scored 28 points on Saturday against Turkey in the semi-final game, but she remained scoreless for the first 26 minutes of the final match.
Torrens could score only 10 points for Spain to hold the U.S. lead at 19 after the third quarter, 67-48.
The American team did not let Spain narrow the gap in the deciding quarter and eventually won gold.
With the victory, the dominance of the U.S. in women basketball continued as they defended their 2010 title. This was the ninth gold medal for them in the Federation Internationale de Basketball World Championship for Women.
Averaging 15.3 points in six games, the American shooting guard Maya Moore was named as the Most Valuable Player of the tournament.
Moreover, Alba Torrens and Sancho Lyttle from Spain, Maya Moore and Brittney Griner from the U.S. and Penny Taylor from Australia were named as the best five players in the tournament.
In the end, it was team U.S. that got the gold, Spain their first ever silver medal and Australia a bronze medal in the championship.
