Sports
Midtown resident sets Olympic record, goes for gold Saturday
No basketball player has shot the ball with better accuracy at the Olympics than the Atlanta Dream's Angel McCoughtry, who is also second in steals among all hoops players in London.
Nobody doubted Angel McCoughtry’s basketball skills prior to the London Olympics, but she’s no doubt she’s opened even more eyes while excelling this month on the world stage.
McCoughtry has been a key contributor to Team USA’s dominance as the American women take aim for a fifth straight gold medal and 41st consecutive Olympic victory Saturday afternoon against France.
Check local listings for air times and a live stream of the contest can be found at NBCOlympics.com.
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The Midtown resident and star for the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream is leading all Olympic players – men and women – in field goal shooting percentage (minimum 40 shots taken) at .644 on 29-for-45 shooting.
The charismatic leader set an Olympic record for single-game field goal shooting last Sunday against China by going 8-for-8 from the floor. Her 2.43 steals per game average is second among all Olympic hoops players and her 11.4 points per game average is tied for second best on the USA team.
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Drafted No. 1 overall in 2009 out of the University of Louisville, McCoughtry grabbed WNBA Rookie of the Year honors and quickly helped turn around the struggling Dream, who advanced to the league championship finals in both 2010 and 2011.
This year, the Dream is in third place in the Eastern Conference standings and McCoughtry is leading the league in scoring after finishing second in that category last year. Considered one of the women’s game’s top defenders, McCoughtry has earned continued praise from Dream head coach, Marynell Meadors, who is an assistant for Team USA in London.
“I’ve been in the game for a long time, and I can tell you I’ve never seen a player like Angel,” said Meadors in a WNBA preseason release. “Angel is a terrific person, but when she steps across those lines onto the court, she is not messing around, she is there to do what she has to do to win. Period.”
And if things go according to plan, come Saturday night all will be golden for McCoughtry and the USA women, arguably America’s most dominant team in London.
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