Basketball: Full of joy, US women win 3rd straight gold
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ATHENS They bounded onto the court with the joy of kindergartners, skipping to the beat of the sound system, turning a simple layup drill into a recess game.
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By Michael Chow, USA TODAY. The United States men&#39;s basketball team Saturday kept its streak alive of having won a medal in every Olympic basketball competition in which it has competed
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One more victory and U.S. softball team will have its goal: a third Olympic gold. Right now, the Americans aren't just a Dream Team &#151; they're more like the Perfect Team. Lisa Fernandez pitched a three-hitter Sunday and Crystl Bustos drove in two runs as the Americans rolled to their eighth shutout in eight days, 5-0 over Australia, putting them into the gold medal game.
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The US Women&#39;s National Team and its living legends realized their destiny Thursday with an overtime strike from Abby Wambach to defeat Brazil 2-1 in the Gold Medal Match at the 2004 Olympic Games and reclaim their place as the top team in the world.
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With a dominating performance on the boards and two big scoring spurts, the United States women's basketball team overcomes another slow start and beats the Czech Republic, 80-61, Monday.
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ATHENS, Greece The US women&#39;s basketball team completed an eight-game run through the Athens Olympics with a 74-to-63 win over Australia.
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The Seattle Storm is the new Women&#39;s National Basketball Association champion. Seattle defeated the visiting Connecticut Sun, 74-60, in the third and decisive game of the WNBA Finals.
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Australia and the United States won  their women's basketball semi-finals Friday to set up a clash  between the unbeaten teams in the Olympic gold final.
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Bronze is better than nothing. That's one Olympic lesson the U.S. men's basketball team was able to understand. The Americans took the third-place game seriously Saturday night, earning some revenge and salvaging some self-respect in a 104-96 victory over Lithuania. Although they didn't get what they wanted in Athens, they didn't embarrass themselves in their finale, either.
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The United States gave Hall of Famer Mia Hamm the perfect send-off on Thursday, beating Brazil 2-1 to win Olympic gold in the women&#39;s soccer tournament.
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Rounding out a three-color-medal day for US Cycling, Dede Barry, who boasted her own Greek cheering section, took silver in the women's time trials.
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The United States kept itself firmly on  course for a third straight Olympic softball gold medal when it  thrashed Australia 10-0 Sunday.
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Bouncing back from mistakes Wednesday that would have cost a great team the gold medal on most days, the Americans finished with two of the most dazzling routines of the entire competition to clinch their second title at the world gymnastics championships.
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ATHENS - The US men have a basketball medal, but there is little consolation in the prize. Third place fell a couple of steps short of expectations, but the Americans had nowhere else to go Saturday in what
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Athens, Greece (Sports Network) - The US women&#39;s basketball team continued its impressive play at the Olympics, pulling away from previously-unbeaten Spain for a 71-58 victory on Friday.
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ATHENS -- LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, and a couple of their Olympic teammates made it over to watch last night's women's game between the United States and China. They saw a team shoot well, pass well, rebound well, and dominate -- everything they are not doing so far.
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ATHENS -- Preliminary-round elimination would have been a disaster for the United States women. Desperate for a victory, the Americans avoided embarrassment by finally playing like a gold medal contender -- and like a team.