SYDNEY (AP) — Ezi Magbegor had 16 points and five blocks to help Australia beat Canada 75-72 Monday night at the Women’s World Cup.
The victory caused a stalemate atop Group B with Australia, Canada and France all on three wins with one game to play for each side.
“We knew it would be a tough group for us,” Magbegor said. “Everything would matter to us. We’ll have another tough one tomorrow against Japan.
Australia led 71-69 when Steph Talbot converted a reverse layup to extend the advantage. On Canada’s next possession, Magbegor blocked Natalie Achonwa’s shot just before the shot clock ran out.
Talbot then made two more free throws with 19.3 seconds left to make it 75-69. Nirra Fields hit a 3-pointer with 1.1 seconds left for the final margin.
In Monday’s other games, the United States set a World Cup points record in a 145-69 win over South Korea. France and Belgium qualified for the quarter-finals with victories over Japan and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Serbia beat Mali 81-68 to keep their quarter-final hopes alive. China routed Puerto Rico 95-60.
Australia trailed 33-19 with four minutes remaining in the first half before scoring the final 19 points of the period to lead by five at the break. Magbegor and Tess Madgen each collected six points during the race.
“I knew (Ezi) would have his kind of game and I didn’t know when it would be,” said Sami Whitcomb, who had 15 points. “It was huge for us tonight, I’m so proud of her. She showed up when we needed her in the most time.
Canada rallied in the third quarter and led 57-51 before the Opals took the lead and set up the close finish.
Fields led Canada with 17 points.
Australia were missing Bec Allen, who suffered a rib injury late in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s Opals game against Serbia. The team said they were resting this game.
USA 145, SOUTH KOREA 69
Brionna Jones scored 24 points, A’ja Wilson added 20 and USA used a dominating inside effort for a record-breaking performance in the win over South Korea.
He broke the World Cup record for highest-scoring match, surpassing the 143 points Brazil had in 1990. He also broke the previous US mark of 119 points achieved against Angola in 2014 and China in 2006 The scoring margin was the largest in US history. as well.
It is the 26th straight World Cup victory for the Americans, who have not lost since the 2006 semi-finals when they fell to Russia. The United States also had 26 straight wins from 1994 to 2006. The Soviet Union holds the World Cup record with 56 straight wins from 1959 to 1986.
Other American records broken on Monday included 62 field goals, 36 assists and 94 points in the paint.
BELGIUM 85, BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA 55
Hind Ben Abdelkader scored 18 points while Julie Vanloo and Kyara Linskens each added 13 to help Belgium reach the quarter-finals with victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina.
To win a medal, however, they will have to do so without star Emma Meesseman, who injured her left calf. She is out for the remainder of the tournament, the team announced after the match.
The Belgian Cats (3-1) led 26-19 midway through the second quarter before going on an 11-3 run to close the half, capped by Vanloo’s 3-pointer with two seconds left . She scored seven points on the push.
The win was the third in a row for Belgium after losing to the United States in their opener. The Cats have now qualified for the quarter-finals in their two World Cup appearances.
“It feels good because sometimes I think we forget that we are a small Belgium and that this is only our second Women’s World Cup,” said full-back Julie Allemand. “I think that’s something we can be proud of. Sometimes it’s like “Oh, that’s normal” but it’s not! We still have to win games, we still have to improve and I think we can be proud of that.
Nikolina Elez and Matea Tavic each scored 13 points to lead Bosnia and Herzegovina (0-4). Jonquel Jones was limited to just eight points and eight rebounds. It was the first time in the tournament that she failed to score at least 15 points.
SERBIA 81, MALI 68
Sasa Cado scored 20 points and Tina Krajisnik added 17 to help Serbia overtake Mali, keeping their chances to advance.
Serbia (2-2) led 43-39 at halftime before slowly retreating in the third quarter. The Serbs led 62-50 heading into the final half and Mali couldn’t come closer for the rest of the way.
Sika Kone scored 13 points and 11 rebounds for Mali (0-4), which is playing its second World Cup. The African nation came on as a late substitute for Nigeria and went 1-4 in their other appearance in 2010.
FRANCE 67, JAPAN 53
Gabby Williams scored 16 points and France used stellar fourth-quarter defense to beat Japan and advance to the quarter-finals.
Iliana Rupert added 15 points and 12 rebounds for France (3-1),
France led 48-46 18 seconds into the fourth quarter after Maki Takada made a lay-up. Those would be the last points Japan would get until Saori Miyazaki’s layup with 1:53 to go. The French scored 15 straight points in that nearly 8-minute streak to blow up the game.
Japan (1-3) missed eight shots and had five turnovers during their drought.
Miyazaki scored 13 points to lead Japan. She was the team’s only double-digit player. Olympic silver medalists in Tokyo may not qualify for the knockout round. Japan are set to beat Serbia on Tuesday in the final pool game.
CHINA 95, PUERTO RICO 60
Li Yueru scored 16 points to lead a balanced Chinese attack in a rout of Puerto Rico.
China (3-1) took an early lead and didn’t let Puerto Rico recover. The efficient Chinese offense collected 39 assists from its 41 baskets.
Puerto Rico (1-3) can advance to the quarter-finals with a win over South Korea on Tuesday. With that in mind, most Puerto Rican starters played sparingly.
Trinity San Antonio led Puerto Rico with 19 points.