Ostrava and Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic • Sept. 23 - Oct. 3, 2010

The 2010 USA Basketball Women’s World Championship Team did not arrive in the Czech Republic as defending gold medalists, but the players and coaches made it their mission to depart with gold medals. And they did so by dominating opponents by an eye-popping 35.1 points a game.

Led by University of Connecticut and Hall of Fame head coach Geno Auriemma, the USA’s defense did not allow an opponent to score more than 75 points, while its offense scored more than 100 points in four games and came a point shy of triple digits in its first contest.

Despite having just one day of practice with the entire 12-member squad, the U.S. opened play in Ostrava with a 99-73 victory over Greece as Swin Cash and Angel McCoughtry led the way with 16 points apiece.

The U.S. next dispatched Senegal 108-52 as Maya Moore scored a game-high 15 points.

Diana Taurasi led the way in the USA’s 81-60 victory over France as it closed preliminary play with a perfect 3-0 mark.

Opening the second round, Lindsay Whalen scored a team-high 16 points as Canada fell to the USA 87-46. Next up was Belarus and it was Sylvia Fowles who paced the attack with 15 points as the U.S. rolled to a 107-61 win.

In its final second round game, the red, white and blue faced also undefeated and defending world champ Australia. Jumping out to an early lead, the U.S. was up by as many as 24 points in the second quarter and had a 51-33 cushion at the midway break. Australia fought back in the second half, clipping the USA’s lead to single digits twice in the waning minutes. However, led by a game-high 24 points from Taurasi, the USA fought off the late surge for the 83-75 victory and earned the No. 1 seed out of its second round group in the process.

Moving to Karlovy Vary for the final round, by virtue of its top spot in Group E the U.S. earned a quarterfinal match-up against South Korea, which had just nine healthy players. McCoughtry scored a game-best 17 points to lead six of her teammates in double digits for points, as the U.S. overwhelmed the smaller squad 106-44.

Meanwhile, two of the other quarterfinal contests saw stunning upsets. Australia, which stood on the medal stand in every Olympics and World Championship since 1996, and Russia, which earned medals in five of the previous six international majors, were felled by host Czech Republic and Belarus, respectively, ensuring a new look on the 2010 podium.

Opening its seminfinal game on an 11-1 run, the U.S. continued to improve its advantage and secured a 106-70 win over Spain. Tamika Catchings led the USA with 14 points.

Advancing to the gold medal game against host Czech Republic, the Americans looked to be pulling away late in the first half. The Czechs, however, would not back down and cut the gap to 40-35 at halftime. The Czechs cut it to 40-37 to open the second half, but that was as close as they would get. The U.S. went on a 15-2 run and never looked back en route to an 89-69 gold medal victory as McCoughtry led the way with 18.

While the Czechs won their first World Championship medal under their own flag, Spain also made its first podium appearance at the Worlds with a 77-68 victory over Belarus in the bronze medal game.