Aussies lose to Russia, will go for the bronze

Neither Russia nor Australia had encountered any serious competion in the tournament until today. Russia still hasn't. They overwhelmed Australia 76-57.

The Aussies battled all the way but couldn't slow down Maria Vadeeva, who tallied 27 points, 16 rebounds and five blocks.

Russia's strong defense held the Aussies to 27.5% shooting. Both Alanna and Alicia Froling (Australia's third-best scorer) were held scoreless except for one free throw apiece.

Australia out-rebounded Russia by a bit (51-47), but they turned the ball over 20 times.

Alanna picked up two fouls in the first quarter and fouled out midway through the fourth. She had three rebounds and two blocks, but missed all of her six shots from the field and three of four from the line.

Here are:

• A game recap: Home favourites Russia sweep aside Gems to make Final
• The complete statistics,
• A photo gallery,
• A game highlights video, and
• The full game video.

On the other side of the bracket, Spain kept the game fairly close, but the USA pulled ahead at the end to an 80-65 victory.

So Australia and Spain will compete for the bronze medal tomorrow (Sunday,July 26) at 8:00 am Pacific Time. USA and Russia will go for the gold at 10:15 am.

Sunday's medal games will be streamed live on LiveBasketball.TV. The games are free, but you need to register here to view them.