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Olympic Basketball Recaps - 23 July (Day 4)

Women's Basketball Preliminaries / Group A

RUS vs. BRA

Brazil Remains Undefeated with Win Over Russia:

Brazil, a favorite for a medal in the 1996 Olympic Games, remained undefeated with an 82-68 win over Russia. With the score tied at 25-25 with 6:24 remaining in the first half, Brazil went on an 8-2 run to open up a small lead. The two teams traded baskets down the stretch of the first period as Brazil held on for a 41-36 halftime advantage. The Brazilian lead remained at 5 points at 61-56 with 7:49 remaining when Brazil made the decisive streak of the game. The final scoring barrage from Brazil ended with a 21-9 spurt which netted the final score. Hortencia Marcari OLIVA led Brazil with 20 points, while four other Brazilians also reached double-figures. For Russia, Irina RUTKOVSKAYA scored 18 points and Yevgeniya BARANOVA posted 15 points and 9 rebounds to lead the way. Final Score: RUS 82, BRA 68.


Women's Basketball Preliminaries / Group B

CUB vs. KOR

Cuba Scores 70-55 Victory in Must Win Meeting with Korea:

In a meeting of two teams with already one loss in the 1996 Olympic Games, Cuba came through with a victory in a must-win situation. Both teams, competing in Group B, needed the win in order to stay in contention to move on to the medal round. The top four teams out of the six-team group will advance. The game began very sloppy as both teams misfired at the basket and committed a multitude of turnovers in the first half. Cuba shot only 35 percent from the field during the opening period, while Korea managed to connect on only 26 percent of its shots. The result was a low-scoring 26-26 tie at halftime. Cuba was the first team to awaken from the nightmarish first half as it went on a 14-5 run early in the second half to grab the lead for good. Maria LEON led Cuba with 20 points, while Yamilet MARTINEZ added 10 points and grabbed 14 rebounds. Korea placed four players in double-digits, led by JUNG Sun-Min's 16 points. Final Score: CUB 70, KOR 55.


Women's Basketball Preliminaries / Group B

USA vs. UKR

United States Rolls to Victory Over Ukraine:

For the 16th time in the past year, the United States' women's basketball team defeated the Ukrainian squad in easy fashion. Team USA built a big lead early in the first half and continued to build toward a 98-65 victory. In the opening four minutes of the game, the USA jumped out to a 12-2 lead and never looked back. About midway through the opening period, Ukraine went on a 7-0 run to close the gap to 23-18. But that was as close as the Ukrainians would get as the United States went on to a 52-34 lead by half-time. USA guard Ruthie BOLTON led all scorers with 21 points as all five American starters reached double digits. Lyudmila NAZARENKO led Ukraine with 14 points. Final Score: USA 98, UKR 65.


Women's Basketball Preliminaries / Group B

AUS vs. ZAI

Australia Defenses Way to Big Win Over Zaire:

Using a full-court man-to-man press and trapping zone defenses, Australia confused Zaire and scored often en route to a 91-45 victory. Any questions to who was going to win the game were answered early in the first half as the Australians opened the game with an 18-2 run. The lead continued to build and reached as high as 33 points at 55-22 by half-time. Shelley SANDIE led Australia in scoring with 18 points as a total of five Australians scored in double-figures. The other leading scorers for Australia were Sandy BRONDELLO (17), Michele TIMMS (12), and Trisha FALLEN and Michelle BROGDAN with 10 points each. Muene TSHIJUKA led Zaire with 15 points and was one of only six players for Zaire to score. Final Score: AUS 91, ZAI 45.


Women's Basketball Preliminaries / Group A

CHN vs. JPN

Japan records upset victory over China.

Japan gained its first victory in the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games with a 75-72 upset victory over China. The Chinese, one of the medal favorites this year, are now 0-2 in Group A after losing to Italy earlier in the week. Japan, which trailed the majority of the game, took a 73-72 lead with just 0:55 remaining on the clock on a lay-up by Mikiko HAGIWARA. Japan's defense held China scoreless the rest of the way and Aki ICHIJO (JPN) added two free throws for the final margin of victory. The upset for Japan can be credited to the strong defense it played on China's 6-9 center ZHENG Haixai in the second half. After scoring 21 points and pulling down 10 rebounds in the first half, ZHENG (CHN) could manage only 10 points in the second half as Japan double- and triple-teamed her every time she touched the ball. Japan was led by HAGIWARA's 23 points, while ZHENG (CHN) led China with 31 points and 16 rebounds. Final Score: JPN 75, CHN 72.

"It certainly had an affect on my play," said ZHENG Haixai on how difficult it was being double- and triple-teamed. "In the second half, it wore on me both psychologically and physically."


Women's Basketball Preliminaries / Group A

CAN vs. ITA

Italy claims its second upset victory with defeat of Canada.

Italy, which defeated international powerhouse China on Sunday, recorded its second upset in Group A of the 1996 Olympic Games with a 59-54 victory over Canada. Italy trailed three times by more than 10 points, but continually fought back with aggressive defense and great outside shooting. The Italians forced 25 turnovers by Canada and connected on 8-of-13 shots from beyond the 3-point arc. Trailing by 12 points at 36-24, Italy scored 11 consecutive points to pull to within one at 36-35 with 13:09 remaining. Canada then went on a run of its own, outscoring Italy 13-4 over the next 6:24 to take a 46-39 advantage. Italy then hit three consecutive 3-pointers, two of them by Viviana BALLABIO, and Mara FULLIN connected on two free throws with 3:08 remaining to give Italy the lead for good. FULLIN and BALLABIO each led Italy with 15 points each, while Beverly SMITH led Canada with 13 points. Final Score: ITA 59, CAN 54.


This is an official publication of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games Sports Publications Department.


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Olympic Factoid
More tickets were sold to the competitions of the 1996 Games than to any other Olympic Games or sports event in history. The 8.6 million ticket sales figures topped sales to the Los Angeles and Barcelona Games combined.