Players of China celebrate after the women's basketball preliminary match of Group C between China and Australia at Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Saitama, Japan, July 30, 2021. (Xinhua/Meng Yongmin)
TOKYO, July 30 (Xinhua) -- Li Yueru made two crucial free throws in the last 0.6 seconds as China edged Australia 76-74 and advanced to the Tokyo Olympics quarter-finals here on Friday in the women's basketball competitions.
China now goes up to 2-0 in Group C play, while Australia fell to 0-2 after losing to Belgium 85-70 in their first game.
"It's a tough game against world No.2 Australia. All the preparations paid off now. We have weakness but at the end the players are able to execute our plan, which is satisfying." said China head coach Xu Limin.
China's captain Shao Ting made two free throws before Katie Ebzery made another three to tie the game 74-74. With 0.6 seconds left, Li Yueru drew fouls and made two free throws to seal the victory.
"China are a great team and credit to them. I feel like we did quite well, but I think just silly mistakes and we weren't shooting the ball as well as we could tonight, especially in the last quarter." Sara Blicavs of Australia said after the game.
Wang Siyu led China with 20 points. Li Yueru contributed 12 points and 7 rebounds. Li Meng added 11 points and 7 assists. Ezi Magbergor scored a team-high 15 points for Australia, followed by 11 from Jenna O'Hea.
China led 27-19 in the first quarter before Australia kept attacking under the rim in the second period. Steph Talbot and Jenna O'Hea scored inside the paint, leading Australia a 12-0 run to tie the game on 38-38 at the break.
China started the third quarter with a 9-0 sprint before Huang Sijing made a three-pointer as China expanded the lead to double digit for the first time at 53-42.
Australia cut the deficit to two points with 15.3 seconds left in the final period before Wang Siyu made two free throws. Cayla George added a 3-pointer to help Australia narrow the margin to 72-71, but Li's two free throws had a final say on the game. Enditem
