Australia won its first women's basketball world championship on Saturday, getting 28 points from Penelope Taylor and another 16 from Lauren Jackson for a 91-74 victory over Russia.
Australia, which had never finished higher than third in the quadrennial championship, trailed 9-2 early after only 3:12, went ahead for good 16-15 on Belinda Snell's three-pointer with 1:29 remaining in the first quarter and then exploded for a 24-5 run that put it in control 37-20 with 4:05 left in the first half.
Taylor also had nine rebounds while Kristi Harrower had 15 points for the Opals and Snell finished with 12 points. Jackson finished as the tournament's leading scorer, averaging 21.3 points per game.
PHOTO: EPA
It was the third straight runner-up finish for Russia, which lost to the US in the previous two championship matches but beat the US on Thursday in the semi-finals.
The former Soviet Union won the women's crown six times, the last in 1983.
Earlier the US beat host Brazil 99-59 to win the bronze medal. Diana Taurasi led the US with 28 points, while Tina Thompson contributed 15.
PHOTO: AFP
"We had to prove to ourselves that we could play better than we did against Russia," Taurasi said. "We lost some of our pride in that game, but we managed to recover it [on Saturday]."
Thursday's loss to Russia ended the US' world championship winning streak at 26, dating to the 1994 bronze-medal game, and snapped their string of victories in the Olympics and worlds at 51.
"The Americans played a perfect game," Brazil veteran Janeth dos Santos Arcain said. "Our coaches told us that each team would have one great game and one horrible game. Their horrible game was against Russia and their great game was against us."
PHOTO: AFP
Inter on Sunday were given a letoff when they snatched a late 1-1 derby draw with AC Milan, while league leaders SSC Napoli were held by a late goal at AS Roma. Reigning champions Inter remain three points behind Napoli, who looked to be heading five clear as they led in Rome until Angelino volleyed in a stunning leveler in the first minute of stoppage-time. Angelino’s strike gave even more significance to Stefan de Vrij’s last-gasp equalizer at the San Siro. The defender forced home Nicola Zalewski’s knockdown just as it looked like Tijjani Reijnders’ opener would be enough for Milan. “I can
The Washington Capitals and Winnipeg Jets on Saturday did not disappoint in a thrilling midseason matchup in front of a fired-up sellout crowd of more than 18,500 fans. The top two teams in the NHL delivered with a combined nine goals, including the 877th of Alex Ovechkin’s career to put him 18 back of breaking Wayne Gretzky’s record. That tied the score, the Jets pulled it out in overtime and just about everyone involved got their money’s worth out of the 5-4 game. “We knew how we were both sitting in the standings and both having real good years,” Winnipeg coach Scott
BACK-TO-BACK: The League One club, which is owned by stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, is sparing no expense to clinch promotion to the Championship Hollywood endings are pricey, even in England’s third division. In pursuit of their third straight promotion, Wrexham AFC splashed some cash at League One rival Reading to secure the services of striker Sam Smith. The Welsh club owned by actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney confirmed the signing of the 26-year-old Smith on Friday. He is one of the top scorers in the third division. The transfer fee was not disclosed, but British media widely reported it to be about ￡2 million (US$2.48 million) — not extravagant, but a hefty price at this level and it would be about the same figure that
Less than a week after splashing out a world-record fee for Naomi Girma, Chelsea has spent big again to bring England midfielder Keira Walsh back to the English Women’s Super League. Walsh left European champions Barcelona after more than two years to join Chelsea for a reported ￡400,000 (US$496,000) on Friday. Walsh was the world’s most expensive player for two years after moving to Barcelona from Manchester City for a reported ￡400,000 in 2022. That status now belongs to Girma, the US defender who cost Chelsea a reported ￡900,000 to sign from the San Diego Wave. Still, it means 27-year-old Walsh — a technically
RSS