RIO DE JANEIRO -- Penny Taylor and her Australian teammates knew what was at stake.A win over France would put them in the drivers seat in Group A, meaning theyd potentially avoid playing the U.S. until the womens basketball gold medal game.Taylor helped them also get a measure of revenge in the process, scoring an Olympic career-high 31 points to help Australia beat France 89-71 on Tuesday.Its huge, Taylor said. We dont want to face the U.S. until we have to, so I think thats huge for us.This will be Taylors last shot at beating the U.S., and she would like that opportunity in meeting between the top teams in the gold medal game. The 35-year-old guard told The Associated Press before the Olympics started that she planned to retire at the end of the current WNBA season. Shes already has two silver medals at the Olympics and wants to go out with a gold.On Tuesday, she made her first seven shots and had scored 23 points before missing her first field goal attempt. She finished 10 of 13 from the field with nine assists and five rebounds.That was vintage Penny, Australian coach Brendan Joyce said. She was great and really lifted us.All that stands between Australia (3-0) and winning the group is Japan. Those teams play Thursday and a win by the Australians would clinch the No. 1 seed in its pool and avoid a matchup with the U.S. until the finals. The Australians respect the Americans but arent intimidated by the U.S., which has won the last five Olympic gold medals and a roster of WNBA All-Stars and MVPs.The heavily favored Americans have captured the headlines, but the venerable Opals continue to win .They have their own 6-foot-8 center in Liz Cambage, who has been dominant so far in the Olympics when she can stay out of foul trouble. They also have a few WNBA stars of their own in Taylor and Erin Phillips.We know what we will face if we play them eventually, Joyce said. We have a long tough road still before that happens and well worry about them when we face them.The road did get a little easier with the win over France. The Opals lost to the French in overtime in the London Games in 2012, costing them the top spot in the group. It was Australias only loss to a team other than the U.S. in the Olympics since 1996. Australia ended up with a bronze medal in London.We dont want to drop any pool round games, said Phillips, who scored nine points in Tuesdays win. Good thing about this team is we never get too high on a win or low on a loss. This win against France by 18 was huge. If you had told me this morning when I woke up and said we would beat France by 18, Id be really, really happy.Both Taylor and Phillips missed the 2012 Olympics. Taylor was out with a torn ACL and Phillips didnt make the team. They are both cherishing their Olympic experience.Its been amazing, gone really fast. I try to soak it up as much as I can when Im not playing, the 31-year-old Phillips said. In the dining hall you see Usain Bolt and some gymnasts who are the best in the world, its inspiring.You never really know what an Olympics mean until you miss one. Penny and I missed one for different reasons. To be back here makes it so much more memorable.---Follow Doug on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/dougfeinberg Womens Markelle Fultz Jersey . Louis Cardinals. Victorino is batting sixth and playing right field after missing two games because of back tightness. Youth Markelle Fultz Jersey . The team also announced Tuesday that the Braves will wear a commemorative patch on the right sleeve during the season. The patch, shaped like home plate, carries the number 715, Aarons autograph and a "40th Anniversary" banner. http://www.markellefultzjersey.com/ . MORITZ, Switzerland -- Fog prevented downhill racers from getting their Olympic dress rehearsal. Markelle Fultz Washington Jersey . Thats not a comment on the suspension that banished the Portland Winterhawks general manager and coach from his Western Hockey League teams bench for most of the 2012-13 season. Markelle Fultz 76ers Jersey . -- For the first time in two months, an opponent was standing up to Alabama. Mumbai Cricket Association and Tamil Nadu Cricket Association have opposed BCCIs decision to reschedule two postponed Delhi fixtures (due to pollution and smog) to after the completion of the ninth and final round of matches in the ongoing Ranji Trophy season.The Group A clash between Gujarat and Bengal and the Group C fixture between Hyderabad and Tripura will now be played four days after the completion of the final round, from December 15 to 18, in Visakhapatnam and Kolkata respectively.The MCA has already lodged an official protest against the rescheduling of the Group A clash, and the TNCA is expected to follow suit on Monday. Mumbai are currently group toppers with 26 points, while Gujarat, with 21 points, are two points behind second-placed Tamil Nadu.While Tamil Nadu and Mumbai only have one and two games respectively, Gujarat have three by virtue of the rescheduling. According to Indian Express, MCA joint-secretary Unmesh Khanvilkar had stated in his letter to the BCCI the rescheduling was unfair to the other teams.The rescheduling of the said match after the completion of all matches gives unfair advantage to the participating teams with respect to their qualification the knockout phase, Khanvilkar wrote. This would be unfair for the rest of the teams who would have finished all the matches by then.TNCA secretary Kasi Viswanathan said the matches in question shouldnt be rescheduled, and that the points should be shared retrospectively. In a league stage you cannot do this; it will be a disadvantage to the other teams. It is an act of God, and you should have only shared points, he told ESPNcricinfo. Last year we lost almost four days due to rain against Gujarat; so many matches have been affected by fog, nothing was done then.We are saying the matches should not be rescheduled and that points should be shared like in any match that is washed out. We have orally conveyed [our displeasure] to the BCCI. We will have a meeting with our president annd office bearers, and then we will file an official protest tomorrow mostly.ddddddddddddViswanathan said they should have waited till the fourth day before calling the games off in Delhi. After all, only two days of play had elapsed; they could have still completed the game on the third and the fourth day, he said. It has happened in so many games in the past; it is not something new.He also contended the technical committee wasnt empowered to reschedule the games. The BCCI press release says that the two matches were called off by the technical committee, he said. I would like to point out that the technical committee has no jurisdiction over it. Only the senior tournament committee has the powers to decide this.In Group C, the top-three teams are separated by only three points. While table-topper Andhra and third-placed Haryana have two more matches remaining, Hyderabad, who trail Andhra by only two points, have an extra game against Tripura, who are in the bottom half. Andhra coach Sanath Kumar admitted Hyderabad would have the advantage of knowing what they need to do in the last match, but said there was no point worrying about it.All we have to do is our two games we have to focus and have to do our best. If we win one of the games and take the first-innings lead in the other we are anyway through, he said. These things we cant do anything about. It is not intentionally done or something like that. Definitely it is an advantage, but you cant avoid it; you cant do anything else.The BCCI had also pushed back the knockout matches to accommodate the two games. The quarter-finals, initially scheduled to begin on December 17, will now be held from December 24 to 28. The semi-finals were moved from December 27 to January 3, while the final, originally set to be played from January 7, will now take place from January 12 to 16. Cheap Jerseys Wholesale Wholesale NFL Camo Jerseys Wholesale Nike NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL T-shirts Wholesale NFL Jerseys Wholesale NFL Womens Jerseys NFL Jerseys Wholesale ' ' '