The home team was playing, so the hometown fans came out.
They waved their blue-and-white flags. They lustily booed the opposition, even if it was doing nothing more than dribbling the ball up the court. They ardently cheered their heroes’ every basket, even if it did nothing more than cut the deficit from 31 points to 29.
That was the scene Wednesday at Olympic Indoor Hall, where the U.S. women’s basketball team eased into Friday’s semifinal against Russia with a 102-72 victory over Greece. Australia will play Brazil in the other semifinal.
The crowd of 8,100 remained to the end, made its opinions known to the end and gave the home team a standing ovation as it walked off the court.
“It was fun to hear all the people, even if they were booing us,” U.S. forward Tamika Catchings said. “It was good to hear something in the stands.”
Said Greek guard Anastasia Kostaki: “They are our people. We play for our people. It is the first time for something like this here. We never had it before.”
Greece never had a chance, not even when it trailed by just two with 2 minutes 32 seconds left in the first quarter.
Over the next 7:52, the Americans set off on an 18-2 run to create an 18-point lead. The game in effect was over, yet Greece played on, especially the feisty Kostaki.
“She lit us up,” Catchings said.
A summer ago the 5-foot-9-inch Kostaki had a tryout with the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun, but she left after a week with a neck injury.
Two summers ago she had been in camp with the now-defunct Cleveland Rockers, where she lasted longer.
“But maybe I wasn’t lucky,” she said. “They had older players, and it was very hard for me, the first time out of Greece. I lasted until the end, but then . . . “
Then she ran a finger across her throat.
The skills that got her those looks were on display Wednesday, when a cast of U.S. defenders tried unsuccessfully to slow her. Kostaki instead went 3-for-6 on three-pointers, 7-for-13 overall and 9-for-10 on free throws while scoring a game-high 26. She also had eight assists and shrugged off going to the ground after some aggressive defense by Diana Taurasi.
“I like [the U.S. players],” Kostaki said. “They play all the time hard. They’re tough. That’s my game. Then after the game, they’re friendly. I like that.”
Said Taurasi: “That’s the way we like to play. We want to be aggressive.”
The most aggressive was Yolanda Griffith, the Carver High graduate, who grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds to go with her 14 points. Guard Shannon Johnson led the U.S. with 21 points off the bench, forward Tina Thompson had 20 and the U.S. ended with six players in double figures.
The U.S. was too big, ending with a 21-3 advantage in offensive rebounds and a 44-22 overall rebounding edge. The U.S. was too quick, coming up with 14 steals to Greece’s two and causing 19 turnovers while committing only 10.
But never did the hosts back down, and always from the stands came encouragement.
“It was fun,” Taurasi said. “You could feel the energy. There was a buzz in the stadium. Even warmups were fun.”
And that standing ovation for a team that had lost by 30?
“I’ve never been around something like that,” Catchings said. “But they played very well, and their fans got into it. They were excited to see they didn’t give up.
“When a team gives up, that’s when a crowd loses interest. But Greece never did that. They kept fighting and fighting and fighting.”
