Croatia drop Canada 59-56 in the quarterfinals; Qualify for the 2012 London Olympics - FIBA Olympic Qualifiers for Women
On Friday night in the first quarterfinal of the 2012 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Women, Croatia edged out the Canadians 59-56 to book a place in the 2012 London Olympics.
Croatia led by as many as 11 points minutes before the break, but a meltdown in the third quarter saw them reeling by 5 points going into the last ten minutes. They however picked up their game just when it mattered the most and outscored the Canadians 18-10 to seal a win.
The Europeans were paced by 12 points from Jelena Ivezic and 10 from Marija Vrsaljko. Courtnay Pilypaitis led Canada with 11 points.
Canada started off with a 6 nothing run and were leading by 9-4 inside the first three and a half minutes of the game.
The Croatians fought back quickly. They closed the gap to 1 point twice in the fifth minutes, and after the game went scoreless for nearly 2 and half minutes, they finally took their first lead of the game at 12-11. A jumper by Jelavic took the lead to 14-11, but a 5-2 Canadian response tied the scores at 16 apiece.
Mazic split a pair of free throws in the final seconds to give Croatia a 17-16 lead going into the second period.
Canada had the better start to the first quarter, but in the second, the script was reversed as the Europeans raced off to a 7-2 spurt to take a 24-18 lead. The North American women scored the next four points, but with nearly one minute remaining in the first half, the Croatians had managed to carve out a 33-22 advantage.
Phillips made two free throws for Canada shortly afterwards and a Murphy layup closed the period on 33-26.
Croatia quickly increased their advantage to 8 point in the second half, but what followed was a 9-2 run, reducing Canada’s deficit to one point, 35-36.
The Canadians kept on mounting the pressure in the ensuing passage and with 1:51 remaining on the clock they had taken a 42-38 edge. By the end of the third, the lead had swelled to 46-41 and it seemed that Canada will go on to win the game and secure a place in the 2012 London Olympics.
Team Croatia had different ideas though.
They started the fourth frame with a 7-0 run and after the Canadian tied the game twice - first at 48 and then at 50 – they carved out a 4 point lead and then hung onto it to book a place in the semifinals.
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