Charles leads US women to rout of Spain

HARTFORD, Connecticut (AP) - Tina Charles had 17 points and 10 rebounds to help the U.S. women's national basketball team beat Spain 85-69 on Sunday in an exhibition game.

The Americans trailed 17-16 after the first quarter before Charles took over, scoring 12 points in the period. The WNBA rookie of the year scored the first six on easy layups for the U.S., which led 25-19 after a 3-pointer by Kara Lawson.

Alba Torrens hit one of two free throws to cut Spain's deficit to five, but the U.S. scored the next 17 points — capped by a 3-pointer by Diana Taurasi that made it 42-20 with 3:12 left in the second quarter.

Spain was able to come within five early in the fourth quarter behind Anna Montanana before the U.S. pulled away.

Lawson added 11 points while Asjha Jones, Maya Moore and Candice Dupree all had 10 for the Americans.

The U.S. was still missing Sue Bird, Swin Cash, and Cappie Pondexter. Bird and Cash were playing in Game 1 of the WNBA finals that started in Seattle on Sunday. Pondexter, an up-and-coming designer, has been busy with fashion week and most likely will join the U.S. team in Europe next week.

Spain didn't have Sancho Lyttle, who was playing for the Atlanta Dream in the finals.

The Spaniards got off to a quick start behind Montanana, taking a 17-16 lead after the first quarter. The U.S. missed its first five shots as Spain scored the first six points. After the U.S. rallied to take an 8-6 lead, Montanana hit three 3s to give Spain a 17-13 advantage.

She finished with 21 points while Torrens added 13.

The U.S. routed Australia on Friday night and then the Aussies lost to Spain 87-74 on Saturday.

All three teams head over to Spain to play another series of exhibition games next weekend before going on to the Czech Republic.

Spain is in Pool C at the World Championship that begins on Sept. 23, playing against Brazil, Mali and South Korea.

The Americans are in Pool B with France, Greece, and Senegal.