BEIJING • Another Olympic game, another blowout.

That’s life for the U.S. women’s basketball team, which got 16 points from Lisa Leslie, shot 62.1 percent from the floor and forced 29 turnovers Wednesday in a 97-41 win over Mali.

The U.S. has won its first three games by an average of 47 points.

Keeping a level head during so many routs isn’t easy, especially for players accustomed to tight WNBA games.

“Character is revealed in bad times as well as great times if you’re able to stay focused,” forward Candace Parker said. “That reveals a lot of character – doing what you need to do. Doing it because you know you’re preparing for tomorrow. You’re not preparing for right now.”

Intent on readying her team for Friday’s game against Spain, U.S. coach Anne Donovan called seldom-run offensive plays, changed defensive schemes and tried lots of presses in the second half.

It wasn’t a bad strategy. Of course, a 51-28 halftime lead gave the Americans plenty of room for error.

“You’re playing against the top teams in the world,” forward Seimone Augustus said. “If you blow a team out, you have to think about the fact that your team executed and did everything they needed to do.”

Parker said the keys to maintaining a high level of intensity in blowouts are “focusing on us, worrying about our execution, worrying about executing on offense, playing hard on defense, blocking out, rebounding. Controlling the things we can control.”

Forward Tina Thompson doesn’t buy the letup theory in lopsided games.

“It’s the Olympics,” she said. “You can’t help but be focused. That’s why we’re here. We’re here for one reason, and that’s to win a gold medal. Each outing, each minute we play, each practice we have is building toward winning a gold medal.”

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Contact the Writer: 636-0256 or brian.gomez@gazettedev.gazette.com. Check out our Olympics blog at gazetteolympics.freedomblogging.com

Candace Parker, left, stole the ball from Mali forward Diana Gandega during the first quarter of their women’s preliminary basketball game. Photo by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS