Lisa Leslie and the U.S. women didn't have much trouble with the home team on Wednesday. (Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE/Getty Images)

With play shifting from the cozy confines of the Helliniko Indoor Arena to the mammoth Olympic Indoor Hall on the main grounds of the Games, the quarterfinals of the women's basketball tournament tipped off on Wednesday.

The United States faced Greece in the first game of the day, and despite a raucous home crowd, the U.S. held off the host country, 102-72, to advance to the semifinals of the tournament.

Tina Thompson (20 points, six rebounds, five assists) and reserve Shannon Johnson (21 points, 3-of-4 from 3-point range) led the Americans in a game that finished as yet another runaway win for the U.S.

The final result was settled by the second quarter, yet the crowd never diminished in intensity. Even when Greece was down by 20 points, the crowd would cheer wildly after the home team made a 3-pointer or a successful drive to the hoop. The U.S. was also booed mercilessly every time they were in possession of the ball.

So did the WNBA players like playing in this hostile atmosphere? According to Diana Taurasi, they most certainly did.

"Oh yeah, it's a great atmosphere," said Taurasi after the game. "When you're walking into that kind of situation, you just feel it on the bus ride over and in the locker roomm before the game. We knew it was going to be a great test playing Greece at home."

Sue Bird agreed.

"It was great," said Bird. "Just how loud it was, and all of the chanting, everyone screaming 'Hellas!' the entire game. Though if it had stayed close, then [the crowd] could've been a factor."

Due to continued dominance up front and a solid outside shooting effort (10-of-25 from 3-point range), however, the crowd was never able to have any real impact on the game.

Plus, the U.S. team had a special rooting section of its own, as Stephon Marbury, Carmelo Anthony, Shawn Marion, Lebron James, Lamar Odom, Carlos Boozer and Amare Stoudemire watched the game from close behind the women's bench. In turn, the women will be in attendance for the men's Thursday showdown with Spain.

The U.S. women face Russia next in the semifinals after Elena Baranova and company trounced the Czech Republic on Wednesday, 70-49.

Yao and Lebron both move on to the medal round. (Stuart Hannagan, Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE/Getty Images)

Maybe the U.S. shouldn't feel so badly about losing twice in group play after all. At least they didn't come into the Olympics as world champions.

In a stunning turn of events on Monday, Yao Ming and China bumped the winners of the 2002 World Basketball Championships, Serbia & Montenegro, out of Olympic medal contention with a 67-66 upset victory. With the win, China advances to the quarterfinals where they will face Lithuania, while Serbia & Montenegro will try to beat Angola to avoid last place in the tournament overall.

With 27 points and 13 rebounds against the Serbs, Yao characteristically led his side to victory. China also received timely contributions from Li Nan, who had 14 points (including going 4-of-9 from 3-point range), and Du Feng, who chipped in 12 points and five rebounds. Du also sank two free throws with 3.2 seconds left to put the game away for China.

The Olympics have been a roller coaster for the Chinese team. In their three losses, China fell by an average margin of 29.0 points, and have at times looked lost on the floor, but China coach Del Harris was adamant that the team, namely his perimeter players, were better than they've shown in games. And while Monday night's game may not quite have been the breakthrough game he's been hoping for -- China shot just 22-of-54 from the field and 5-of-19 from 3-point range in the win -- an emotional Harris was more than pleased with his side's resolve, calling Monday's win the best of his long coaching career.

Yao has also had his ups and downs in this tournament. While he was truly dominant in China's wins over New Zealand (39 points) and Serbia (27), Yao averaged just 12.0 points per game in his side's three losses. He also went 13-of-36 from the field in those three games, but much of that can be blamed on Yao not getting much help from his supporting cast, who have looked flat, and at times timid, in the tournament.

The highs and lows for the Chinese big man extended off the floor as well. After his team's opening blowout loss to Spain, Yao voiced sheer displeasure with how his team performed before storming away from a group of reporters. It was an angry side of Yao that had not been seen by most who have covered his two years in the NBA.

Of course, that anger can be sharply contrasted with the exuberance he displayed after his side's hard-fought win over Serbia. Yao was nearly overcome with emotion after the game, as he talked about how Coach Harris taught the team to never give up, no matter how dire the situation looked.

China will need to build upon this optimism heading into their next game. They face Sarunas Jasikevicius and the undefeated Lithuanians on Thursday.

SEEDINGS SET AFTER THREE UPSETS:
With China, Italy and Greece all emerging as upset winners on the final day of group play, the seedings for the medal round flip-flopped once again on Monday. Most significantly, the United States drops to fourth place in Group B, and faces Pau Gasol and Spain in their quarterfinal game.

Here is the schedule for Thursday's games:

Spain vs. United States (7:30 a.m. ET, USA)
Lithuania vs. China (9:45 a.m. ET, Bravo)
Italy vs. Puerto Rico (1 p.m. ET, MSNBC)
Greece vs. Argentina (3:15 p.m. ET, CNBC)

Should the U.S. beat the undefeated Spaniards, they would face the winner of Greece-Argentina in the next round. Naturally, this means that the Lithuania-China winner squares off against either Italy or Puerto Rico.

The semifinals are on Friday, and the championship game, as well as the bronze-medal game, is on Saturday.