China tops host Australia 61-59 to reach gold-medal video game – The San Diego Union-Tribune

SYDNEY — The Chinese group raised coach Zheng Wei up, tossing her in the air after managing a thrilling success over Australia. China is now ensured its very first medal in the ladies’s World Cup given that 1994 after the 61-59 win over the Opals on Friday night in the semifinals. Han Xu had 19 points, 11 rebounds and 5 blocks to lead China (6-1), which will deal with the U.S. in the gold-medal video game Saturday. The 2 groups played previously in the competition and China offered the Americans their closest video game, losing by just 14 points. “I’m happy of my group,” stated Han, who was serenaded with MVP chants after the win. With the video game connected at 59 with 46 seconds left, Cayla George missed out on a shot from the top of the secret as the shot clock went out, offering the ball back to China establishing the opportunity. After China worked the clock down, Huang Sijing was fouled and calmly sank both totally free tosses. Australia had one last chance, however Ezi Magbegor’s layup was brief at the buzzer. There was an electrical environment for the whole video game as the crowd of almost 12,000 fans was uniformly split cheering on both groups. Every basket drew a holler from among the fan bases. “The crowd was incredible,” stated Sami Whitcomb, who led Australia with 15 points. “It believe it raised us the entire video game. Even with the loss, we have an objective still in mind (of winning a medal).” The video game was backward and forward with neither group getting more than an eight-point benefit. The 4th quarter kept the crowd captivated. Han, China’s 6-foot-10 center, was dominant on both ends of the court. She assisted stake China to a 36-30 lead at the break with 13 points. Australia (5-2) spent time however and took the lead with on Steph Talbot’s layup with 4: 41 left. The video game went back and forth after that up until the last couple of seconds. China was missing its star guard Li Meng, who remained the video game with what Chinese media reported as having a fever due to body tiredness. UP NEXT: China: Plays versus U.S. for a gold medal on Saturday. Australia: Plays versus Canada for a bronze medal on Saturday. ___ More AP ladies’s basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-basketball and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
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