France down Russia 65-54 to top Group B - London Olympics Women Basketball Recap
In a battle for the top spot in Group B, the French women basketball team outclassed Russia 65-54 in what was the last preliminary round game here at the London Olympics on Sunday.
The win for France ensured them top spot in the group B and a quarter final clash with the Czech Republic while the Russians after losing the match finished third in their group and will now face a resurgent Turkish side in the
knock out round.
In a low scoring game, Céline Dumerc was the only French women who scored in double figures with 12 points. The remaining roster failed to cross the double-figure mark but did manage to chip in small yet timely contributions.
The Russians also had only one player scoring in double digits and that was Evgeniya Belyakova who finished with 19 points. However the Russians were let down by their poor shooting from the field as they only converted only 31.1%
of their attempts at the basket.
France came out strong and started with a 4-0 run in the first quarter but a Russian response of 9 points to nothing saw them take a 9-4 lead in the ball game.
By the close of the stanza, Russia was able to stay ahead in the contest, and a 4-0 capping run saw them take a 15-10 lead after the first ten minutes.
The French contingent bounced right back in the second frame and started the period with an 8-2 run. They followed it up with a 7-0 scoring burst and took a 25-21 lead heading into the interval.
If the 15-6 outing in the second quarter was dominating from France, their performance in the following period was even better. They started off with a 10-2 run which saw them prolong their advantage into double figures, 35-23,
and a 11-2 run to close the stanza ensure them a 55-34 lead going into the fourth quarter.
With the game pretty much out of their sight, the Russians finally put up some effort in the last frame. They outscored the French 20-10 in the stanza, but did little to threaten the opposition, eventually losing out with the scores
at 65-54.
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