BEIJING (AP) U.S. water polo player Lauren Wenger will miss the gold medal game after breaking her right hand in the semifinals Tuesday.
U.S. coach Guy Baker said Wenger broke her hand in the closing minutes of a 9-8 victory against Australia. She was taken to a local hospital for X-rays, but team doctors were confident it was broken.
Baker said she won't play Thursday in the final against the Netherlands, which upset Hungary 8-7 in the other semifinal game.
"She does a lot of things for us, especially offensively," he said. "We've got time to sit down and figure it out. We've got a couple days to kind of make some adjustments and do what we're going to need to do."
Wenger, a 1.90 meter (6 foot-3) center forward from California, is the team's most versatile player.
Wenger has provided a big boost to Baker's squad since working her way onto the national team in 2005. She helped the Americans finish first in the 2006 FINA World League, the 2006 Holiday Cup, the 2007 FINA World Championships, the 2007 World League Super Final and the 2007 Pan American Games.
She even earned most valuable player honors at last year's World Championships after scoring 11 goals.
But she's seen more adversity than accolades this year, breaking the middle finger on her left hand and spending six weeks in a cast. Just as she was returning to the pool, she broke her ring finger on the same hand and ended up in another cast and out of commission even longer.
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