Australia's tight defense stifled China's inside game. The Chinese sank seven three-pointers, but made only nine two-pointers at a rate of 25%. The Aussies countered with six three-pointers and twenty-five two-pointers at an overall rate of 37%.
The Aussies dominated on defense too, out-rebounding China 59-34.
Alanna was top scorer with 14 points, but not as efficient as usual. She made all six of her free throws, but only four of 16 field goals. She also had six rebounds, one assist, one block and one steal. She committed only two of the Aussies' ten fouls and one of their five turnovers.
Here are:
- A game recap: Gems jump out on China to reach Semi-Finals
- The complete statistics,
- A photo gallery, and
- The full game video.
Russia is a powerful team led by twin towers 6'4" center Maria Vadeeva and 6'4" power forward Raisa Musina. Vadeeva outranks the Aussies in scoring (16.0 ppg v Alanna's 13.4), rebounding (11.4 rpg v Alicia Froling's 7.4) and blocks (3.2 bpg v Alanna's 2.4). Musina is Russia's second-best scorer (12.6 ppg) and rebounder (9.8 rpg). In their quarter-final game today, Musina scored 19 points on a perfect seven of seven from the floor and four of four from the line.
The Aussies will also have to contend with a large group of enthusiastic Russian supporters. Attendance at the games has been sparse, but the Russians show up for their home team.
Here is a statistical preview of the game. It's tomorrow (Sat, July 25) at 8:00 am Pacific Time.
On the other side of the bracket, the USA (who defeated Canada 93-45) and Spain (who defeated Belgium 70-66) will meet in the second semi-final at 10:15 am Pacitic Time.
The Final Four and Sunday's medal games will be streamed live on LiveBasketball.TV. The games are free, but you need to register here to view them.
No comments:
Post a Comment