Aussie women remain unbeaten in basketball

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Sydney: Teenage sensation Lauren Jackson helped lift Australia to a 69-62 victory over France on Sunday and keep their unbeaten record in the Olympic women's basketball tournament.

They now look set for a likely quarter-finals showdown with Poland.The 19-year-old Jackson, who stands at 1.95 metres (6ft 5in), bagged 6-of-18 field shots for 17 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to inflict the first loss of the tournament on France (4-1).

But Australian point guard Kristi Harrower said: "We made a mistake in the end trying to protect our lead instead of building on it. We knew we would rather meet the US in the gold medal game than in the semi-final and this slowed our offence down the stretch.

"But we can't look ahead, at least no further than the next game in the quarter-finals or else we can make the same mistake we made tonight, only pay much dearer for it."

South Korea (3-2) should secure third in Group 'B' after Chun Joo-Weon made the tournament's first triple-double - 10 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists - to beat Cuba 69-59.

South Korean coach not worried

Three-point bombing by the South Koreans against Cuba (1-4) found the target only a third of the time, but coach Yoo Soo-Jong was not worried as they prepared for their clash with France.

"It could be said that they are better than us. (But) We are going to challenge them and do our best to create history," Yoo said.

While Russia, South Korea and Poland are almost certain to finish in a three-way tie in Group 'B', under the Olympic rules Russia would place second, South Korea third and Poland fourth.

Defending silver medallists Brazil (2-2) should beat Canada (1-3), who have won only one game against Senegal (0-5), to finish third in Group A behind Australia and France.

Touted as potential medallists, Russia (3-2) showed signs of still being in shock after the South Korean loss in their 92-54 win on Sunday over bottom-placed New Zealand (0-5) in Group 'B'.

"When a team plays badly it is very difficult to get out of that situation, but I think we have the potential to play much better," Russian coach Evgeny Gomelskiy said. Russia are likely to meet Brazil in the quarter-finals.



(c) Reuters Limited.