Summary The five-time defending champion USA women defeated Canada 81-51 in their match at Rio Olympics
RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug 12, 2016 (AFP) - The five-time defending champion USA women went on a 15-2 second-quarter run to split open a close game and defeat Canada 81-51 at the Rio Games on Friday.
Diana Taurasi and Maya Moore each had 12 points for the Americans, who dominated the boards with 43 rebounds to Canada s 25.
The USA women have won seven of the past eight gold medals and Friday s win was their 45th in a row in Olympic competition.
The USA has been unstoppable in Rio -- they beat Senegal by a 65-point margin, the biggest ever for an American women s team in the Olympics -- and nothing short of a historic upset looks likely to prevent them from repeating yet again.
The USA is now 4-0 in Group B and Canada 3-1. The Canadians will be hoping for a win Sunday over 2-1 Spain to secure a different bracket than the Americans in the knockout phase.
Miranda Ayim was Canada s top point-producer with eight.
Canada hung tough early and was down by a point to start the second period, but Moore scored eight in the 15-2 USA run that followed.
Earlier, Serbia beat China 80-72, paced by Ana Dabovic s 23 points and Sonja Petrovic s 20.
