London, England – Croatia registered its first women's basketball victory of the Olympic tournament and kept Angola winless after a 75-56 rout on Friday.
Ana Lelas poured in 23 points and Sandra Mandir added 18 for Croatia, which had lost its first three games in London and remained alive for a berth in the quarterfinals. The Croats will close Group A play on Sunday against Turkey.
Luisa Tomas scored 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds for Angola, which had lost by at least 22 in each of its first three games. The Angolans will face the Czech Republic in its final Group A game on Sunday.
Nacissela Mauricio chipped in 12 points for Angola and hit a three-pointer to start the game. It was Angola's only lead, as Croatia followed with 11 of the next 13 points. Angola managed to tie it at 11-11, but Mandir followed with a three for Croatia to start a burst of nine straight points and Angola never seriously threatened again.
The Croats built a 24-18 lead after the first and expanded the margin to 41-32 at the break, then blew it open by scoring the first 12 points of the third quarter. Lelas and Mandir each hit from beyond the arc during the early burst to start the second half and a pair of free throws from Andja Jelavic made it 53-32 with six minutes remaining in the third.
Angola got only as close as 13 and was down 59-43 heading to the fourth. The Croats again led by as many as 21 in the final period.
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