:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/40825124/455597836.0.jpg)
The FIBA World Championship quarterfinals were held on Friday. Here's a quick roundup of the quarterfinals:
Australia defeated Canada, 63-52
After a close first quarter, the Opals went on a 17-7 second quarter run and were leading by double digits for the rest of the way. If there is one stat that stands out in the final box score, it's the number of free throws the teams took. The Opals made 21-of-25 free throws while the Canadians only made 6-of-10 of theirs. Link to Aneela's recap.
Spain beat China, 71-55
The Spanish went on a big start, and held the Chinese to single digit scoring in both the first and second quarters. Sancho Lyttle led Spain with 24 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 steals in the win. For China, Shao Ting was held to just 3 points in the losing effort, after being the team's leading scorer up to this point.
Turkey squeaks by Serbia, 62-61
The run toward a gold medal ends for the Serbians, who are the lowest ranked team in the tournament. For Turkey, Latoya Sanders scored 14 points and grabbed 19 rebounds in the win. For Serbia, Milica Dabovic scored 18 points and Nevena Jovanovic added 16 more. Ana Dabovic only scored 2 points on 1-of-7 shooting, while Jelena Milovanovic scored 11 points, mostly off of threes, but she also shot 1-of-8 from two point range.
If there's a factor that hurt Serbia in this game, it's pace. The Serbians' defense was predicated on stealing the ball by causing turnovers. Today, they only made three steals, and caused 8 turnovers, well under their averages.
The United States gets revenge on France, 94-72
Sandrine Gruda nearly had a double double in this game with 18 points and 9 rebounds, but Team USA shot 41-of-58 from the field which was more than enough to win. That is a shooting percentage of 70.7%. Video Game-like right here. And it took care of Unfinished Business in Paris.
Brittney Griner led the Americans in scoring with 17 points, while adding 5 rebounds and 2 blocks.
FIBA World Championship Semifinals
Saturday's FIBA World Championship semifinals schedule is as follows:
- Turkey vs. Spain at 11:50 a.m. ET
- United States vs. Australia at 2:05 p.m. ET
All games are on WatchESPN or LiveBasketball.TV online. And in the US, you can watch the Team USA game on NBA TV.
FIBA World Championship Consolation Bracket
Though the FIBA World Championship tournament is a single-elimination affair, there are still opportunities for the teams that lost in the quarterfinals to show what they can do. There is a consolation bracket to determine who will be 5th through 8th place. They play before the semifinals teams, but here's the schedule for Saturday:
- Serbia vs. China at 6:50 a.m. ET
- France vs. Canada at 9:05 a.m. ET