Australia narrowly escapes with 70-66 victory over Russia – London Olympics Women Basketball Recap
The Australian women basketball team scored an important victory over Russia at the London Olympics, lifting them to the top of Group B with 7 points.
It was the first defeat for Russia at the Olympics, who lost their pole position to the Australian team. The game was closely contested, but the Aussies showed poise and nerve to close it well and pick up the victory.
Liz Cambage led the Australians in scoring with 17 points and 10 rebounds, going 6 of 13 from the field and a perfect 5 of 5 from the free throw line. Suzy Batkovic scored 15 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists while going 6 of 14 from the field and 3 of 3 from the free throw line. Irina Osipova scored a team high 15 points for Russia, and added 9 rebounds to her effort as she went 6 of 9 from the field.
It was a thrilling game, with the 1st quarter providing an exciting battle between the two teams. There were quite a few lead exchanges in that period alone, as both teams looked to out-do each other. Australia had the final laugh as they scored the final 9 points of the period to come from 3 behind to taking a 21-15 lead into the 2nd period.
The Russians were, however, unaffected by the late Australian charge as they continued to battle for the lead, cutting into the deficit and finally tying the game at 30 with a three pointer by Marina Kuzina. Both teams failed to score a field goal for the final 3:13 of the period as the game got tougher and the teams stepped up their defence. The teams missed a combined 9 field goal attempts and Australia scored 2 free throws in the final seconds of the half to go into the half time break leading by 32-30.
Russia took back the lead early in the third period, but Australia responded with a with a 12-0 run out of nowhere to take a 44-33 lead. Back to back three pointers by Belinda Snell and Lauren Jackson in the final minute of the game gave Australia a 54-48 lead moving into the final period.
Russia attempted to shave off the deficit and get back into the game early in the fourth period but a three point shot by Belinda Snell put the Aussies up 61-53, taking the momentum out of the Russian attack.
Both teams went scoreless for almost three minutes after that, but a three pointer by Becky Hammon cut the Australian lead to three points with 4:22 left in the game. Russia remained on the tail of the Aussies from there on, but failed to grab the lead.
A two point shot by Hammon had the Aussie lead down to 68-66 with under a minute left in play. However, Cambage was fouled and scored on both free throws, giving the Russians 41 seconds to stage a comeback. Russia missed their final five attempts from the field in an attempt to close in and lost the game 66-70.
Jenna O’Hea finished with 10 points and 5 assists for Australia, while Hammon had 12 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists for Russia.
The teams matched each other in nearly every category, with Russia having a 44-38 advantage in rebounds. Australia, however, scored on critical points in the final period and the Russians inability to score any point with 41 seconds still left on the clock in the final period cost them the match.
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