2010 FIBA World Championships for Women

No Turkey. My favorite teams Australia and USA and my favorite players Penny Taylor, Lauren Jackson (AUS), Diana Taurasi and Sue Bird (USA).

Good luck for all teams.

My favourite is Australia!! Lauren and Taylor I hope Galatasaray's super-stars(Semione Augustus and Sylvia Fowles) will show good performance!!

Go Australia!!

watching now Canada - Australia

http://www.atdhe.net/19337/watch-canada-vs-australia

Belarus 68 - 57 China

Japan 63 - 86 Russia

Canada 47 - 72 Australia

Korea 61 - 60 Brasil

watching greece - usa

http://www.fromsport.com/v-0/6/42/v-64282.html

USA amazing team.. Taurasi,Sue Bird, Swin Cash and Catchings

Go usa

Australia 91-68 China

Penny Taylor 16 points, 5 rebound ‚ 4 assist ‚ 4 steals

We used to be good at this sport. Unfortunately the good old days are gone and Brazil's team is just a shadow of the brilliant team of the 90's.

In 1994 we were Basketball World Champions defeating the USA team in the semifinals and in 1996 we won the Silver Medal in the Atlanta OG.
In 2000, we won Bronze Medal in the Sydney OG but after that Brazil's team just stopped playing good Basketball. I only hope our girls don't lose all their matches, if they reach the quarterfinals it will be good already.

OSTRAVA - Belarus beat Canada in a battle for second place in Group A and Australia blew out China to remain undefeated on the last day of Preliminary Round action at the FIBA World Championship for Women.

Yelena Leuchanka underlined her status as one of the top low-post players in Ostrava with a 16-rebound performance for Belarus in a 61-49 victory over the Canadians.

Five of those boards came on the offensive glass.

Leuchanka's average of 10.7 per game makes her the second leading rebounder in the competition, which is even more impressive when considering her late arrival in Europe following the WNBA Finals.

"Many thanks for Yelena's work," Belarus coach Anatoli Buyalski said.

"She got back home just Monday. She had just two practices. I think in the next games will be her best."

Leuchanka admits she isn’t as fresh as she would like.

"I don't feel as well as I want to feel," Leuchanka said.

"Other players came with me at the same time, though.

“We're all professional athletes.

“We play at the highest level. I'm just trying to do whatever I can.

"For us, Belarus, it's the first time (in the World Championship). We're writing history books. It's all good."

Belarus won the battle of the boards, 42-26, while Tatyana Troina and Anastasiya Verameyenka poured in 16 and 12 points, respectively, to lead the team in scoring.

Canada's never-say-die spirit was apparent as they prevented Belarus from pulling away.

They closed the gap to 56-47 on two Kimberley Smith free-throws with 3:28 to go but Troina went to the other end and hit a three-pointer as Belarus stayed in front.

She finished three of five from long range.

Belarus point guard Natallia Marchanka finished with seven points and visited with FIBATV.com after the game.

Canada coach Allison McNeill said: "I thought we played pretty hard defensively, pretty well. We didn't do well on the defensive boards.

"I think their length really bothered us. Yelena was relentless and worked very hard.

"Offensively, we got some decent shots but they didn't fall. We didn't have a large margin for error."

Canada were 15 of 50 from the floor and four of 16 from three-point range.

They got 11 points from captain Teresa Gabriel.

"I think we came out and played very well defensively but offensively, we didn't shoot well from the field," Gabriel said.

"Defensively we did what we wanted to do. We pride ourselves on that."

Australia cruised into the Eight-Final Round with a 91-68 romp over China.

With Carrie Graf resting Lauren Jackson and playing her less than three minutes, Australia had no trouble recording a third straight victory in Group A.

“For us, it was a good chance to get our young players into the game,” Graf said.

“It was a good opponent for Belinda (Snell) and Penny (Taylor) to get more minutes. We still have some work to do defensively.”

Snell has been bothered by a calf problem while Taylor is still trying to get back to full fitness after hurting her back in a friendly against the United States a week before the tournament.

Hollie Grima is a valuable “big”, as the Aussies like to say, and she made the most of her 31 minutes on the court by scoring 14 points and hauling in eight rebounds.

Australia will face three experienced teams in the next round, including the EuroBasket champions France and the United States, who are the number one team in the FIBA World Rankings for Women.

"We're coming up against three really good teams but we like the challenge,” Grima said.

China fought for the medals at the 2008 Olympics but they'll have to write off the FIBA World Championship for Women as a good learning experience.

That was the opinion of captain Miao Lijie, one of the players that reached the Semi-Finals of the Beijing Games.

"I think for today, it was a really good chance to gain experience for the team," Miao said.

"Australia is the champion of the last World Championship and we learned a lot, especially the physical contact and how to use the body in physical contact.

“So young players will learn and they must play really hard."

After falling to Belarus and Canada, China had no chance of progressing even with a victory over the Aussies.

Sun Fengwu, the China coach, put on a brave face after the game.

"Australia was the champion in the last World Championship. The purpose for us to play this game, we had to let the young players get on the court.

"For sure, many of the young players got on the court and did a good job."

Australia, Belarus and Canada will all compete in Group E in the Eighth-Final Round

France held the United States to just three points in the first seven minutes but the floodgates eventually opened on Saturday as Geno Auriemma's team won a battle of unbeatens to clinch first place in Group B at the FIBA World Championship for Women.

In the do-or-die clash to determine third place, Greece grinded out an 83-68 victory over Senegal.

The Americans, coming off a 56-point trouncing of the Senegalese, won 81-60 but only after surviving a sluggish start against the French.

Both teams struggled to score with the Americans turning the ball over seven times in the opening frame and France failing to take advantage by making just three of 15 shots from the floor.

Trailing 10-7 after Jennifer Digbeu's jumper for France, the USA closed the quarter with two Candice Dupree free-throws, a short jumper from Tina Charles and a Diana Taurasi jump shot to lead by three.

The USA only led 36-29 at half-time.

Geno Auriemma's side didn't take control until the third quarter when he inserted Lindsay Whalen, Dupree, Angel McCoughtry, Maya Moore and Tina Charles into the game.

They helped extend the lead to 61-48 and the USA pulled away in the fourth.

It was put to Auriemma that his players looked tired against France.

"I think every team here is tired, when you're playing your third game," he said.

"That's part of the World Championship.

"You have to play tired, you have to mentally get through this.

"We have six players that haven't played in the World Championship, but we didn't come here to be tired.

"I thought in the third quarter, that second group gave us a lot of energy."

Taurasi had a team-high 15 points in the first half. After the game she visited with FIBATV.com.

Greece, who were coming off a 69-55 defeat to France, encountered a huge Senegalese team that was looking to salvage its World Championship.

The Greeks got another great game from Evina Maltsi, who scored 31 points after burying seven of 11 shots from behind the arc.

"First of all, I must say it was a very, very difficult game for both teams after two defeats, to concentrate," Greece coach Kostas Missas said.

"I think my team was more experienced than the Senegal team.

"I had two or three players with more experience in leagues and you can feel it."

Missas was asked if it has been difficult to get his players fired up for the game after their disappointing result against the French.

A lot of people believed the Greeks would win that game after falling to France 51-49 in the Quarter-Finals of last year's EuroBasket Women.

"I'm glad that now we say it's disappointment because we lost that game to France," Missas said. "It shows how far we have come because four years ago, France would have beat Greece by 40 or 50.

"Don't forget we are now in the 12 best teams in the world.

"For the Greek national team, we've worked hard. That was the main target. We are going to cool off before focusing on the next games."

Astou Traore had 14 points and Aya Traore 13 for Senegal.

USA, France and Greece will compete in Group E of the Eighth-Final Round

BRNO - Spain continued their unbeaten run at the FIBA World Championship for Women with a 69-57 triumph over Brazil on Saturday.

The victory clinched first place in Group C for Jose Ignacio Hernandez's team.

In the other game in Brno, Korea survived in overtime against Mali, 68-66, to finish in second place.

Despite conceding their second loss in three games, Brazil clinched the last qualifying spot.

Spain's impressive win was an all-round team effort.

With national team newcomer Sancho Lyttle, who had led the Spaniards to victories over Mali and Korea, taking a seat six minutes into the game after picking up her second foul, others took center stage.

Spain trailed 15-13 with 11 seconds to go in the first quarter but then took control and it was because of their defense.

They outscored Brazil 24-8 the remainder of the half for a 37-23 advantage.

Marta Fernandez poured in seven points and Amaya Valdemoro five in that run. After the game Valdemoro visited with FIBATV.com.

Spain came up with 11 steals and forced Brazil into making 18 of their 25 turnovers in the first half.

The European team's lead ballooned to 60-38 heading into the final frame, with Valdemoro contributing nine points in the third quarter.

Brazil cut the deficit to 65-53 with 1:50 to go but got no closer.

Erika de Souza led Brazil with 14 points and 13 rebounds while teammate Iziane finished with 12 on five of 16 (31%) shooting from the floor.

"When you play against a team like Spain, you cannot afford to give away so many turnovers," said Iziane. "That was the difference in the first half.

"It was very hard to come back from that deficit.

"We played better at the end but it wasn't enough.

"We better turn it around because if we continue to play like this, we will not go any further. This isn't good enough.

"We have to get our heads in our pillows and think about how we can improve to bring up better basketball in the next round."

Spain's confidence is now soaring.

"We knew from experience that we couldn't let Brazil take the iniative early on," said Valdemoro, who had a game-high 17 points and came up with four of Spain's 16 steals.

"Everyone came up strong today.

"We are playing well and we are getting a lot of help from our bench players."

Earlier in the day, Korea won 68-66 with Yeon Ha Beon pouring in a game-high 21 points.

Looking to build on their strong performance against Brazil when they almost upset the FIBA Americas champions, Mali hit back from a 17-point deficit at the end of the first quarter and threw a real scare into the Koreans.

Hamcheto Maiga Ba's two free-throws with 3:27 to go lifted Herve Coudray's team into a 60-56 lead only for Beon to bury two three-pointers for a 62-60 Korea lead.

After Meiya Tirera knotted the game with a basket in the paint, Mali rebounded a missed three-ball by Korea but while trying to hold on for the last shot, Maiga Ba had the ball stolen and the game went to overtime.

Once in the extra period, Mali turned the ball over four times and Korea scored the first four points for a 66-62 lead.

Mali ended the game with a costly turnover.

Diana Gandega was trying to bring the ball up the floor and was under pressure by the Korean defense when she fumbled the ball away with five seconds to go.

The Asian side held on for the victory.

Gandega broke down in tears while an exhausted Korea celebrated their second victory of the competition.

The Asian side went into the game having to do without four injured players.

"It was a difficult game for us," said Korea coach Chik Dal Lim.

"Mali were taller and bigger than us but our defense was what made the difference."

Mali outrebounded Korea 51-36.

"We had to play with eight players today and we will have to do the same on Monday as there is no chance any of them will recover," the Korean coach said.

"I hope we can overcome this.
"Heading into the tournament, our aim was to finish in the top six but considering our situation, that will be very difficult."

Mali boss Herve Coudray cut a frustrated figure after the final buzzer.

"We made some mistakes at the end and that was the difference," Coudray, who visited with FIBATV.com after the loss, said.

Maiga Ba and Naignouma Coulibaly had 16 points apiece in defeat.

Mali will travel to Karlovy Vary to play in the Classification Round.

"I'm proud of my team," said Coudray. "Each day we are closer to winning a game.

"We lost against Brazil yesterday in the final five minutes and today we took the game to overtime. I hope we will win our next game."

Spain, Brazil and Korea will compete in Group F of the Eighth-Final Round