Andrew Bogut wasn’t guaranteed to play this summer after injuring his leg in the NBA Finals, but boy the Australians are glad he is fit.
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Cambage and Tolo continued to be an intimidating combination at both ends of the floor, the Opals showed they could do it from outside the paint as well, with a pair of Rachel Jarry threes helping to etch a five-point lead midway through the second term. The Aussies haven’t slowed down and ended with a 4-1 record, falling only to the U.S.in a game they led with nine minutes left.
Prediction: In arguably the most competitive game among the four quarterfinal match-ups in Rio, Croatia vs. Serbia is expected to go down the wire. This wasn’t the best game for either one, although Hezonja was second in scoring with 16 points. The first to appear at the site of Australia and the Lithuanian team.
The first quarter featured five ties and three lead changes in an even opening ten minutes, the quarter deadlocked at 20.
Lithuania moves into the quarterfinals at 3-2, despite holding a -36 point differential.
Whatever was said at halftime seemed to spark Australia as Leilani Mitchell’s two long-range bombs gave the Aussies their biggest lead of the game at 48-39. Now it’s wide open in women’s hoops from Rio, which raises the intrigue level substantially heading into the Spain vs Serbia semifinal matchup on Day 13 Wednesday.
The Olympics comes only every four years, Rudisha said. The results set-up two contrasting semi-finals with the USA taking on France in a rematch of the 2012 London Games final, while Spain face Serbia in a clash featuring two teams making their first Olympic final four appearance. “Saw that she’s such an important piece of our team, without her we weren’t winning that ball game”. Luis Scola netted 15 points for the men from Argentina, while Manu Ginobili ended his worldwide career with 14 points on the night.
The Australian Opals’ Olympic campaign is in absolute tatters, after the highly rated women’s national side was bundled out of the Games by a tenacious but unfancied Serbian team in the quarter final stage of the tournament. “That’s not going to get us to the gold medal game”. From that point the result was predictable, the United States shooters finding their range to pour in over 100 points for the fifth time in six games in a lopsided contest. “It’s an honor to be part of this team”.
Some slight offensive misfiring early by the Opals then caused some nervous moments as the underdog Serbia threw themselves into the contest with the spirit of the underdog.
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They’re the only team to enter the quarterfinals under.500 but have looked as impressive as any squad in Rio.
