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Sports

U.S. women’s basketball team streamrolls Angola 90-38

LONDON » Another game, another blowout for the U.S. women’s basketball team — not that the score matters to them.

That sounds like the right thing to say after Candace Parker had 14 points and 12 rebounds to lead the U.S. to a 90-38 rout of Angola on Monday night.

But the Americans aren’t just being politically correct.

They know they are still a work in progress, having only been together training for two weeks, and are going to play some tough games during the tournament.

"The goal is to continue to get better every game and I think that was what we did" against Angola, Parker said. "I think we’re continuing to work on things that no matter what the scoreboard can help us down the line."

Kim sets Olympic weightlifting record

Kim Un Guk won North Korea’s second weightlifting gold medal at the London Games, setting a world record with a total of 327 kilograms in the men’s 62-kilogram division, and Li Xueying grabbed China’s second weightlifting gold in the women’s 58-kilogram category.

The game against Angola was expected to be an easy romp — and it was — with the U.S. overwhelming the Olympic newcomer.

"It’s definitely about ourselves," said U.S. guard Sue Bird. "That’s how Coach (Geno) Auriemma coaches in college. It’s his philosophy. Never about how much you win by or lose by, it’s how we played. Especially in a game like tonight where going in we kind of had a feeling it might be like this. Not to play to the score, not to relax.

"This is an opportunity for us to play together and we need to take advantage of every opportunity we get."

Parker finished with her second double-double of the tournament. She is averaging 12.5 points and 12.5 rebounds.

The Americans (2-0) have won their last 35 straight games in the Olympics and four consecutive gold medals, while Angola is looking for its first victory. The team lost its opener to Turkey by 22 points, meaning African nations have won only one of their 25 games in the Olympics since Congo — formerly known as Zaire — first qualified in the 1996 Atlanta Games.

BOXING

Light heavyweight Damien Hooper rallied from a third-round deficit for a 13-11 victory over Marcus Browne, handing the U.S. team its first loss in London after a 4-0 start.

Hooper and Browne put on perhaps the best 3 minutes of the day after both fighters cautiously fought the first two rounds. The Australian raised his aggression in the third to overwhelm Browne, a Staten Island, N.Y., product.

SAILING

The U.S. women’s match racing team, with University of Hawaii graduate Molly O’Bryan Vandemoer, split races for the second straight day at the Olympic Sailing Regatta on Weymouth Bay.

The Americans led start to finish against Portugal on Monday. In their second race, they went back and forth with Australia until the final run, when the Aussies pulled ahead by a fraction of a boat length.

In men’s sailing, Danish sailor Jonas Hoegh-Christensen has beaten British star Ben Ainslie in each of the first four races and remained in first place overall on Weymouth Bay on the English Channel.

BEACH VOLLEYBALL

Two-time gold medalists Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings earned their 16th consecutive Olympic victory, beating the Czech Republic in straight sets.

It was May-Treanor’s 35th birthday when the match started, but because of TV schedules and a long match earlier in the session, it ended shortly after midnight Tuesday.

Jake Gibb and Sean Rosenthal lost to Poland in pool play, the first setback for the American men or women in beach volleyball at the games.

WATER POLO

This was quite the Olympic debut for Maggie Steffens, who scored seven goals to lead the U.S. women’s team to a 14-13 victory over Hungary.

Despite a team full of veterans, it was the 19-year-old Steffens who led the way with sharp shooting from outside for the Americans, who are looking to win their first gold in the event.

Russia spoiled Britain’s Olympic debut in women’s water polo, getting a late breakaway goal from Evgeniya Ivanova in a 7-6 victory. Spain and Australia also won their matches.

DIVING

China is dominating the diving boards — again.

Cao Yuan and Zhang Yanquan totaled 486.78 points in the men’s 10-meter synchronized platform, giving the country its second gold medal in the sport at the Games.

German Sanchez and Ivan Garcia of Mexico had the highest degree of difficulty in the competition and it paid off with the silver.

Nick McCrory and David Boudia of the U.S. took the bronze with 463.47. The Americans are 2-for-2 after Abby Johnston and Kelci Bryant earned a silver in 3-meter synchro springboard Sunday, ending a 12-year medal drought.

Britain’s Tom Daley and Peter Waterfield led through the first three rounds, but botched their fourth dive and finished fourth.

FENCING

Fencer Yana Shemyakina of Ukraine beat defending champion Britta Heidemann of Germany 9-8 to win the Olympic gold medal in women’s individual epee.

The event was overshadowed by an hourlong delay following an appeal by the South Korean team after Heidemann’s 6-5 victory over Shin A-lam in the semifinals.

South Korean officials argued the match was already over when Heidemann scored the winning point in the last second, but the jury finally upheld its decision.

Top-seeded Sun Yujie of China won bronze after beating Shin 15-11.

JUDO

Kaori Matsumoto of Japan won the gold in the women’s judo 57-kilogram division, and Mansur Isaev of Russia took the top spot in the men’s 73-kilogram category.

It was Japan’s first gold in London in the martial art it invented.

The women’s 57-kg bronze medals were won by American Marti Malloy and Automne Pavia of France.

SHOOTING

Alin George Moldoveanu of Romania won the 10-meter air rifle gold medal and tied the Olympic qualifying record, making up for narrowly missing a medal in Beijing.

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