THE SEOUL GAMES / DAY 6 : U.S. Women Race to Win Over Yugoslavia

Teresa Edwards scored 23 points and Bridgette Gordon 20 as the United States women’s basketball team overcame a slow start and raced by Yugoslavia 101-74 on Thursday to secure a berth in the Olympic medal round.

Down by eight points after 6 1/2 minutes of play, the U.S. team used its quickness and half-court trapping defense to take control of the game with first-half scoring bursts of 9-0, 12-2 and 9-0. It built a 55-40 halftime lead, which grew to as many as 28 points in the second half.

The Americans had been unable to capitalize on their speed in struggling to beat Czechoslovakia 87-81 in the first round, but once they got running Thursday, the Yugoslavs simply couldn’t keep up. It was the type of performance that had been expected from the U.S. team, which is favored to win the gold medal.

Now 2-0 in preliminary group play and only a game remaining against China on Sunday, the United States is assured of getting into the medal round, which begins Tuesday.

The worst the U.S. team could do is tie Czechoslovakia or Yugoslavia, which is 1-1, for second in the pool and because the Americans have defeated both, they would advance to the semifinals.

It was only the second time in Olympic history that a women’s basketball team topped the 100-point mark. The Soviet Union did it first, beating the United States 112-77 in 1976.