Coach Geno Auriemma favors substituting in waves. Against Croatia, the coach of the U.S. women's Olympic basketball team was putting five players in at a time.

On his second team are the three Lynx players -- point guard Lindsay Whalen, shooting guard Seimone Augustus and small forward Maya Moore.

Of the three, Whalen had the most impact in the U.S. team's 81-56 win over Croatia on Saturday in one of the opening round Olympic games.

Whalen played 18 minutes, 39 seconds and had nine points -- she was four of five from the field -- had two assists and two rebounds. It was a close game until the U.S. team's 16-0 run early in the fourth quarter.

Whalen had a couple nice drives to the basket, a long pass on a fast-break for an assist. She was hustling on defense, too.

Moore played only 11:31. She was in foul trouble early. She was two for four from the field, had two assists, five rebounds, one block, one steal. She seemed to be working hard to get in good position for rebounds.

Augustus played 17:59, but didn't have her shot this game. She was one for eight from the filed, had four rebounds, one assist and one steal.

The U.S. team outscored Croatia 28-9 in the fourth quarter.

Center Tina Charles had 14 points and 10 rebounds, forward Candace Parker 11 points and 13 rebounds. Both started. But the player who turned the game around was forward Angel McCoughtry. She had 13 points and three steals as a reserve.

Lynx fans should remember her well from the WNBA Finals last year. In the second game of that series, she had 38 points at the Target Center. When she gets on a roll, she is amazing.

WHALEN HEADED FOR TURKEY

Earlier this week, Whalen signed to play with Galatasaray in Turkey this WNBA offseason. Center Sylvia Fowles, another Olympian, is on the same team.

Whalen has played for USK Praha in the Czech Republic for five seasons, but that team is undergoing a major transformation and decided it wanted foreigh post players not guards.

She also played for UMMC Ekaterinburg in Russia for two seasons.

Augustus is playing in Russia this winter, Moore in China.