USA wins a Diamond before defending their gold

United States center and three-time Olympic gold medalist Lisa Leslie leads her team to a victory over Australia in the Diamond Ball for Women final in Haining, China. (Photo credit: FIBA)Photo Gallery>>(BEIJING, August 5) -- It was anyone's game throughout the whole second half, but World No. 1 Team USA ultimately put away World No. 2 Australia 71-67 in a warm-up final that might truly mirror the Olympic final in Beijing later this August. The win secured the defending Olympic champions a first place finish in the Diamond Ball for Women in Haining, China.

The whole night was an example of poor shooting, both teams coming up short of 50% accuracy on field goals and each netting only two three-pointers apiece. The exception to this was foul shots, where both teams shot around 90%, making every trip to the line a dangerous sign for the other team.

With all the missed baskets, the name of the game was rebounds, and both teams were hitting the boards hard. US center Lisa Leslie led the game with ten rebounds and was her team's high-scorer at 14 points. The team's youngest member Candace Parker followed with 12 points and eight boards, while everyone who had significant playing time made solid contributions, including guard Sue Bird with 11 points and forward Tina Thompson with eight on both points and rebounds.

Australia's Penny Taylor led the whole game in scoring,both at the half with 10 points and finishing the game with 19 points. Center Lauren Jackson sunk 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds, including one of her team's two three-pointers, and forward Laura Summerton contributed 10 points in 15 minutes of play.

The first half of the game was slow-going, with the United States in the lead 8-5 halfway through the first quarter including two points from free throws. The first quarter was also when Australia enjoyed their biggest lead of the game, only three points after the first three minutes. The United States went to the break with a six point advantage 35-29, and their scoring was evenly spread among their top players.

Although the US team was already fighting for every basket, the third quarter was where Australia really had them sweating. In this quarter Australia matched the United States point for point, both sides with an even 21. For a while it seemed Australia would runaway with the score, but Leslie swapped in for 2008 WNBA No. 2 draft pick Sylvia Fowles and went up for a quick four points inside the paint to allow the US team to hold on to their lead a while longer. US Guard Katie Smith followed up Leslie's play with a fearless drive, but Australia's high-scoring forward Taylor responded in kind with a made basket and a subsequent free throw to tie the game 48-48.

With the pressure on for a basket at every possession, free throws made a big difference in the score. After Taylor tied it up, Smith received a foul and made both shots, followed by another two free throws from Kara Lawson and a basket from guard Diane Taurasi inside the paint, which added up to a six point lead for the United States at the close of the third quarter, 56-50.

In the fourth quarter Australia finally outscored the US team, 17-15, but still never managed to take the lead. The United States was forced to call a time-out at 5:43 on the clock when Australia's Summerton hit two free throws to bring her team within one point, 62-61. All this effort served to make the game exciting to the end, but was not enough to clinch the victory for Australia.

The game was in Team USA's pocket after a steal by Bird led to two points in the paint from Leslie, and Thompson hit a final jumper right before Australia made a clock shot violation and had to turn over possession with 41 seconds left.

Australia's superstar Jackson came in second for average points per game in the Diamond Ball with 20.3, placing behind Latvia's Anete Jakobsone-Zogota with 22.3, and Taylor came in third overall in the whole tournament with 14.7 points per game.

Australia and the United States are in different groups for the preliminary round of the Olympic Women's Basketball tournament, and will not have a chance to face each other until later rounds. Australia's women's team will play in the first Basketball game of the Beijing Games, when they meet FIBA 2007 Asia Champion the Republic of Korea on August 9 at 9:00 a.m. (UTC/GMT +8).