Xinhua News Agency, Sydney, September 26, 2022 The 2022 Women's Basketball World Cup ended the competition on the penultimate matchday of the group stage on the 26th, and five more teams locked up the quarterfinals. China beat Puerto Rico 95:60 and joined forces with Belgium, which also won, to qualify from Group A. The United States beat South Korea 145:69, setting a single-game record for the highest score in the tournament with 145 points.
In Group B, hosts Australia narrowly defeated Canada, which had won all three of their previous three matches, 75:72, France beat Japan 67:53 and Serbia beat Mali 81:68. Canada, France and Australia both had a record of 3 wins and 1 loss, Serbia 2 wins and 2 losses, and Japan 1 win and 3 losses. Because Serbia had previously beaten Japan, Tokyo Olympic silver medalist Japan missed the quarterfinals of the World Cup.
Chinese player Wang Siyu (right) defends during the match on September 26. Xinhua News Agency (Photo by Hu Jingchen)
In Group A's match between China and Puerto Rico, Huang Sijing contributed 10 points in the first quarter, and China ended the quarter with a 25:15 lead. In the second quarter, China won 16 points in a single quarter, pulling the score to 51:25 at the end of the first half. In the second half, the Chinese team's attack did not decrease, Wang Siyu and Yang Liwei continued to shoot from afar, and the Chinese team extended the lead to more than 30 points.
The Chinese team gave 41 assists in the whole game, and all 12 players scored scores. Li Yueru scored 16 points and 8 rebounds, Zhang Ru contributed 14 points, and Huang Sijing and Wu Tongtong scored 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Chinese players Han Xu, Wang Siyu and Yang Liwei (from right to left) were after the game on September 26. Xinhua News Agency (Photo by Hu Jingchen)
In another game in the same group, Belgium began to take the initiative from the second half of the first quarter. After the start of the second quarter, Bosnia and Herzegovina made consecutive mistakes and were counter-attacked by Belgium, and the point difference quickly reached double digits, and Belgium had a 15-point advantage at the end of the first half.
Belgium's defensive strategy was successful, and Jones, a powerful center in Bosnia and Herzegovina who had previously averaged 17.7 points per game, was limited to just eight points and made six turnovers. Without the strong support of the inner offensive core, Bosnia and Herzegovina struggled to turn the tide in the second half, and Belgium won 85:55.
The Women's Basketball World Cup (including its predecessor, the Women's Basketball World Championship), previously set a single-game scoring record for 143 points set by Brazil against Malaysia in 1990. The United States, which had previously advanced to the quarterfinals, shot 66% of the time on the day, and eight players scored in double figures, beating South Korea with a huge advantage of 76 points. Puerto Rico and South Korea, both 1-3 wins and 3-loss, will have a direct dialogue on the 27th, and the winner will be the last team to advance to the quarterfinals.
After the women's basketball World Cup group stage is all over, the quarter-final match situation will be determined by the draw.