OSTRAVA, Czech Republic — Endene Miyem scored 14 points and Celine Dumerc added 13 to help France beat Belarus 58-48 Monday at the women's basketball world championship.
Dumerc had six steals and five assists for France (3-1), which used a 14-0 run late in the third quarter and early in the fourth to take command of the game.
Despite the loss, it has been a great tournament for Belarus so far. The Belarusians burst on to the international basketball scene the last few years. They finished third at the European Championship in 2007. Belarus followed it up by qualifying for their first Olympics in 2008 where they finished sixth.
They've made an impression on the court at the worlds with their play and the Tuta basketball dresses they wear.
Belarus (2-2) avenged its quarterfinal loss in the Olympics by beating China in the opening game of this tournament before beating Canada to clinch second place in Group A.
The Belarusians hung around against France because of their stellar defense. They trailed 25-20 at the half before opening the third quarter with a 17-7 spurt to take a 37-32 lead on Tatyana Troina's 3-pointer with 1:58 left in the period.
France answered back, scoring the next 14 points to go up 46-37 with 6:32 left in the game.
Yelena Leuchanka finally ended the 6-minute scoring drought for Belarus by hitting two free throws with 5:43 left. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Leuchanka and Troina cut the deficit to 48-45 with 3:52 left, but that's as close as they could get.
Leuchanka, who plays for the Atlanta Dream in the WNBA, finished with 17 points and 14 rebounds to lead Belarus.
OSTRAVA, Czech Republic — Lauren Jackson had 20 points and 12 rebounds and the Aussies scored 20 of the game's first 25 points to rout Greece.
Elizabeth Cambage also had 20 points for Australia (4-0), which will play France on Tuesday. The 6-foot-8 phenom made seven of her nine shots and was a perfect 6 for 6 from the foul line.
Evanthia Maltsi, who was averaging a tournament-leading 23.3 points coming into the game, was held to just nine.
Greece (1-3) cut its deficit to 12 to end the first quarter, but Australia outscored them 29-9 in the second to take a commanding 32-point halftime lead. The Greeks, who face Canada on Tuesday never mounted a challenge in the second half.
OSTRAVA, Czech Republic — Lindsay Whalen scored 16 points to lead the United States to a win over Canada.
Angel McCoughtry added 11 points and five steals for the United States (4-0). The Americans will face Belarus on Tuesday.
For the second straight game the U.S. got off to a slow start as Canada jumped out to an 11-5 lead with 4:27 left in the first quarter. It was the biggest deficit the Americans had faced in the tournament. Coach Geno Auriemma put in his second group led by Whalen, Angel McCoughtry and Tina Charles and they quickly provided an immediate spark, blowing the game open.
Janelle Bekkering and Kim Smith scored eight points to lead Canada (1-3), which will play Greece.
BRNO, Czech Republic — Sancho Lyttle scored 29 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead Spain to a rout of Japan.
Amaya Valdemoro added 13 points and Cindy Lima had 12, making all five of her shots.
Spain (4-0) jumped all over Japan, starting the game with a 13-3 run. Little had six points during the spurt.
Yuko Oga, who came into the game averaging 22 points, hit a 3-pointer to make it 17-8, but Spain put the game away with a 19-6 spurt over the next 7 minutes. The Spaniards led 50-27 at the half.
Japan could only get within 16 in the second half.
Ai Mitani scored 16 points and Yoshie Sakurada added 13 for Japan (1-3). Oga was held to just seven points.
Spain will play the Czech Republic on Tuesday while Japan takes on Brazil.
BRNO, Czech Republic — Ilona Korstin and Olga Arteshina each scored 11 points to lead Russia to the easy win over Brazil.
Becky Hammon and Maria Stepanova had 10 points apiece to help Russia (4-0) stay unbeaten. Russia, which will play South Korea on Tuesday, slowly pulled away from Brazil. The Russians led by seven after one and 15 at the half.
Brazil could get no closer in the second half.
Erika de Souza had 11 points and 14 rebounds while Adriana Pinto had 11 for Brazil (1-3), which will play Japan.
BRNO, Czech Republic — Eva Viteckova scored 27 points to help the Czech Republic rout South Korea.
South Korea took an early 8-3 lead before the Czech Republic (3-1) closed the period on a 25-8 burst. Viteckova scored 11 of her points during the spurt. She made 9 of her 12 shots, including five 3-pointers for the host nation.
Korea (2-2) was able to get within 10 in the second period before the Czechs pulled away for good.
Yeon Ha Beon scored 17 points and Sunmin Jung added 12 to lead Korea.
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