Australian women claim bronze
Agence France-Presse Nanjing, China
Lauren Jackson scored 31 points to lead Australia to its second consecutive world championship bronze medal, beating South Korea 91-63 at the 14th Women's World Basketball Championship here on Wednesday.
"It's a fantastic result by the team and the girls and I guess because there was a big margin there not quite excited yet, but I'm sure it will sink in very, very soon that they've achieved a terrific result for Australia," Australia coach Janette Stirling said.
The Sydney Olympics silver medalists overpowered a spirited Korean team that was often down by more than 10 points before the main break, but refused to quit.
In the second-quarter, Korea, who shocked Brazil 71-70 before losing to Russia in Tuesday's semifinals, came within 9 points of the Aussies after a Yeon-ha Beon steal and layup.
But the Opals proved too strong, building an insurmountable twenty-point lead by the end of the third period to coast to victory.
WNBA all-star Penny Taylor of Australia added 16 points .
Stirling, who's side lost the semis to the United States 71-56 on Tuesday said: "It's the best next case scenario for us to achieve a medal."
The Australian women outrebounded their opponents 41 to 27 while neutralizing Korea's often dangerous three-point game.
Korea scored only five out of 20 three-point attempts, as Sun- min Jung led her team's scoring with 19 points.
In earlier classification matchups Spain beat China 91-72 to finish 5th in the tournament for the second consecutive time, with China ending 6th.
Brazil placed 7th after defeating France 74-65, which finished 8th.
The undefeated Americans (9-0) now face Russia in Wednesday's final. Both teams boast six FIBA gold medals. Russia will be looking to avenge its narrow six-point loss in the 1998 finals and their 89-55 defeat earlier in this tournament.
Earlier on Tuesday, the United States beat Australia 71-56 in the semifinals to set up a final against Russia, who came away 70-53 winners over South Korea.
It has been a year of upsets for South Korean athletics, most notably in the soccer World Cup finals, but there was to be no fairytale ending for their women's basketball team at the Wutaishan gymnasium in the eastern city of Nanjing.
With ten steals, five fast-breaks, and 40 minutes of full court press, the Koreans came within eight points of the Russians during the fourth quarter.
But in the end, Russian power forward Elena Baranova, with 22 points, proved lethal both from in the paint (16) and behind the arc (6).
The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) all-star and 1998 tournament most valuable player (MVP) also had four steals, five assists, and twelve rebounds.
Smashing a tournament record, two-time WNBA MVP Lisa Leslie also led the United States to victory against Australia with 24 points and 11 rebounds on Tuesday.