two-out walk to Evan Gattis in the fifth. Brian McCanns single off Zack Duke drove in Upton for a

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. -- Just after the United States routed Canada by 40 points, Geno Auriemma and his UConn greats posed for a group photo on the court.The five former UConn players, who helped the Huskies win 10 of their 11 national championships, received one last rousing ovation from the crowd. A fitting send off for the team from their adoring Connecticut fans.Auriemma gave those same fans an opportunity to cheer their former stars early on, starting all five. It was virtually the same starting lineup he used in a win over France on Wednesday. The only change was putting Breanna Stewart into the group instead of Elena Delle Donne.The Hall of Fame coach said it was the right thing to do.I hadnt had the same starting five in any games we played, he said after the 83-43 victory Friday night. I thought to myself, I asked Cheryl (Reeve), if you were head coach instead of me, youd do it, because its the right thing to do. She said OK. Im not going to worry about it and did it. It was fun for the kids and the fans.The players really didnt notice it until the opening tip.When you look at it, you have a good piece of history out there with Sue (Bird) and Diana (Taurasi) representing the early success and then Stewie on the other end, said Maya Moore, who helped the Huskies win two titles. It was really cool and really cool for the fans.The U.S. will aim for an unprecedented sixth consecutive gold at the Olympics. The Americans have one more exhibition game Sunday at Madison Square Garden against Australia, which beat France 76-67 on Friday night.Taurasi, Bird, Moore, Stewart and Tina Charles struggled a bit offensively when they were in, but defensively they shut down Canada. After struggling in their first two exhibition games in the first half, the Americans jumped all over their neighbors to the north.The U.S. only had a three-point lead on the select team in their pre-Olympic tour opener Monday and led France by one Wednesday at the half. The Americans wouldnt let that happen against Canada.The Canadians missed 13 of their first 14 shots and couldnt recover from the slow start, trailing by 13 after one quarter and 24 at the half.I thought defensively we were about as good as we can be given the short amount of work that weve done, Auriemma said. That kind of led to a bunch of other things.Taurasi scored 14 points, and Delle Donne added 12 to lead the U.S.Auriemma had always seemed to shy away from playing all his UConn players at the same time during the 2012 London Olympics and the last two world championships. He rarely had five UConn players on the court in either of those major championships.But just as he did starting Delle Donne in Delaware on Wednesday, he gave the fans one more opportunity to cheer the local favorites. The loud crowd gave the former Huskies a great ovation in pregame introductions and then cheered every one of their plays.When we get to Rio, the best five players for that situation will be on the floor regardless of where they come from, Auriemma said.The offensive highlight of the first half came from Delle Donne, who threw a nifty no-look pass to Taurasi for a layup.Canada finished fifth in the world championship in 2014 and will look to improve on that in Rio. The Canadians have never won a medal at the Olympics in womens basketball and hope to change that with a nice mix of veterans and youth.One of those talented young players is Kia Nurse, who is a junior at UConn. Nurse help lead Canada to the gold medal at the Pan-Am Games last summer. She got a nice hand from the crowd in pregame introductions, but had a rough game. She was scoreless in 25 minutes, missing all three of her shots.This was Nurses second game back for Canada. She had sports hernia surgery after helping UConn win a fourth consecutive national championship in April.I cant say how impressed and pleased we are that shes come back as well as she has, Canada coach Lisa Thomaidis said. Shes such a competitor, so tough, nothing surprises us anymore with her.Canada will play France in the opener at the Garden on Sunday.---Follow Doug on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/dougfeinberg Custom Tim Hardaway Jersey . First off, the fans ripped the Cubbies introduction of a fuzzy new kid-friendly mascot named "Clark". Cheap Custom Warriors Jersey . LOUIS -- Attorneys for the St. http://www.customwarriorsjersey.com/ . Jon Montgomerys gold medal in skeleton at the Whistler Sliding Centre and his subsequent auctioning off of a pitcher of beer in the village square elevated him to folk-hero status. Warriors Jerseys China . John Lucas, signed as a mentor for rookie Trey Burke, showed he can score if required, scoring 12 points of his 16 points in the second quarter as Utah built an 18-point lead. Custom Warriors T-shirts . PAUL, Minn.ATLANTA -- Fredi Gonzalez doesnt want to discuss the NL East standings. In fact, one mention of the Braves big lead in the division made Atlantas manager groan and complain "I dont even want to talk about that. Its June 2." Ramiro Pena and B.J. Upton hit home runs, Paul Maholm won his third straight decision and Atlanta beat the Washington Nationals 6-3 on Sunday to stretch their lead in the NL East. The Braves won two of three from the Nationals and lead Washington by 6.5 games -- the biggest advantage for any first-place team in the majors. Atlanta is 15-6 against NL East teams, including 7-3 against the Nationals. "Its big," said Upton of winning the series against the Nationals. "We know theyre a team thats going to be around all year. They have a good ballclub. Its good to win games against a team like that." The Nationals (28-29) fell below .500 for the first time since they were 13-14 on April 30. It may seem early in the season to Atlantas Gonzalez, but Washingtons Adam LaRoche said its late for the Nationals to be scuffling around .500. "We deserve to be where were at right now," LaRoche said. "Weve played like crap. And were still not in awful shape. "That only goes so far. Were pretty deep into the season, so weve got to get it going or we wont be there at the end. I dont sense any panic, anybody stressing over it, but itd be nice to pick it up." Washington manager Davey Johnson said the teams sagging offence could get a lift as outfielder Jayson Werth is expected to come off the 15-day disabled list for Tuesdays start of a home series against the Mets. "Theres still plenty of time," Johnson said. "We can right the ship and get things going in the right direction. Weve still got plenty of time. "The offence is just sputtering a little bit. Itll be good to get Jayson back. Our guys are certainly capable. Theyve just got to start doing it. Thats all. Its that simple." Ian Desmond hit a homer for Washington in the sixth inning to cut Atlantas lead to 4-3. Freddie Freeman answered with a bases-loaded, two-run double in the bottom of the inning. Paul Maholm (7-4) allowed three runs, two earned, on five hits in six innings. Craig Kimbrel pitched a perfect ninth for his 17th save. Washington rookie Nathan Karns (0-1) gave up four runs, three earned, on seven hits in 4 2-3 innings. Karns allowed two homers. He has given up four homers in his two starrts.dddddddddddd Upton, who had the game-winning hit in the Braves 2-1 win over the Nationals in 10 innings on Saturday night, hit a second-inning homer off Karns to give Atlanta a 3-2 lead. The two-game surge was much-needed for Upton, who has RBIs in back-to-back games for only the second time this season. "Good for him," Gonzalez said. "His at-bats keep getting better and better and better. Thats the B.J. Upton that we want to see. Its good that hes coming along. "Hopefully hell run off 10 or 12 games like this." The Braves led 2-0 before Karns recorded an out. Ryan Zimmermans 10th error on a wild throw to first allowed Andrelton Simmons to reach base. Pena hit Karns next pitch about five rows deep into the right-field seats for his third homer. Washington tied the game with two runs in the second. LaRoche doubled and moved to third on Ian Desmonds bunt single. Tyler Moores single to left field drove in LaRoche. With two outs, Karns hit a grounder to Freeman at first base. Maholm dropped Freemans toss to first base for an error as Desmond scored. Karns was pulled after giving up a single to Justin Upton and a two-out walk to Evan Gattis in the fifth. Brian McCanns single off Zack Duke drove in Upton for a 4-2 lead. Desmonds seventh homer cut the lead to 4-3 in the sixth before Freemans bases-loaded double off Duke in the bottom of the inning pushed the lead to three runs. Freemans drive hit the yellow line on the top of the left-field wall. Three umpires left the field for a video review to confirm the on-field ruling the hit was a double. "I blame it on the wind," Freeman said with a smile. "Its a big park. Cmon guys, move the fences in." Washington right-hander Erik Davis, recalled from Triple-A Syracuse on Saturday, pitched 1 2-3 perfect innings in his major league debut. NOTES: The Braves held out slumping right fielder Jason Heyward, who struck out in each of his three at-bats on Saturday night, leaving his batting average at .142. Justin Upton moved to right field and Gattis started in left field. ... B.J. Upton made back-to-back starts for the first time since May 21-22. ... The Braves open a three-game series against Pittsburgh on Monday night as RHP Kris Medlen, still looking for his second win, faces RHP A.J. Burnett. The Nationals, off on Monday, return home to open a series against the Mets on Tuesday night when RHP Jordan Zimmermann faces RHP Jeremy Hefner. ' ' '