Sandrine Gruda had 26 points and 15 rebounds to help France stun the U.S. women's national team 76-72 in an exhibition game on Sunday. It's the first loss by the Americans in an international game since falling to a team from the Czech Republic in 2011 when the U.S. team was on a European tour.
The Americans, who beat the French by 36 points in the gold medal game at the Olympics in 2012, had a 12-point halftime lead and were up 60-52 with 6:39 left in the game before the hosts rallied. France led 71-67 with 27 seconds left after Celine Dumerc, who plays for the Atlanta Dream in the WNBA, hit a jumper. Maya Moore made a three-pointer 7 seconds later to make it a one-point game.
After the teams exchanged free throws, Dumerc made the first of two from the foul line before corralling her own miss with 9 seconds left to seal the victory.
Tina Charles scored 12 points to lead the United States, which shot just 40 percent (27 for 67) from the field. Moore missed her first nine shots before hitting the three that brought the Americans within one. Diana Taurasi was 3-for-13 from the field.
