Recap: China, Nigeria, France, Spain advance to FIBA World Cup quarterfinals

On Wednesday, the second- and third-place teams in the 2018 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup played for the four remaining spots in the quarterfinals, which begin Friday. Here are the results!

China beats Japan, 87-81

Yang Liwel and Shao Ting scored 16 points each as China overcame a first-quarter deficit to advance to the quarterfinals. Nako Motohashi led Japan with 25 points.

Japan came into the World Cup as one of the up-and-coming teams in Group D along with Belgium. They even beat Group D winner Belgium, but this loss hurts considering that China was considered to be a team that was stagnant while Japan is in a golden age.

China plays Australia on Friday.

Nigeria edges out Greece, 57-56

Nigeria raced to a 13-point lead by the start of the fourth quarter of Wednesday’s quarterfinal qualifier. Although Greece came back, their effort wasn’t enough in a 57-56 win for the Nigerians.

For Nigeria, Evelyn Akhator led with 14 points while Maria Emmanouela Fasoula led Greece with 18 points.

African teams generally haven’t done well in world competition, so this win isn’t just big for Nigeria, who advance to their first quarterfinals ever, it’s also big for African basketball as a whole.

With the win, the Nigerians play the United States on Friday at 6:30 a.m. ET.

France blows out Turkey, 78-61

Sandrine Gruda scored 20 points and Endene Miyem added 18 more to lead France to a big win over the Turkish. For Turkey, Quanitra Hollingsworth scored 19 points.

The French won this game by forcing the Turks into 19 turnovers, scoring 19 points off of them. They also raced to a double-digit lead by halftime and definitively put the game away in the fourth quarter.

France plays Belgium on Friday in a battle between the two western European neighbors.

Spain beats Senegal, 63-48

Spain beat Senegal by double digits to advance to the quarterfinals on their home court in Tenerife. But they also had trouble early on, as they were tied with the Senegalese at halftime. In the second half though, Spain held Senegal to just 14 points to put them away.

Astou Ndour led Spain with 14 points and Anna Cruz added 11 more in their win. Oumoul Khairy Thiam was the only player from Senegal to score in double figures, putting up 10 points.

Spain plays Canada on Friday.

Quarterfinals schedule

There are now just eight teams remaining in the 2018 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup. Here are Friday’s game times:

• United States vs. Nigeria at 6:30 a.m. ET
• Australia vs. China at 9 a.m. ET
• Belgium vs. France at 12:30 p.m. ET
• Canada vs. Spain at 3 p.m. ET