After nearly a full week of action at Stade Pierre-Mauroy, it’s time to get down to brass tacks. The men’s competition wraps up group play on Saturday, highlighted by the U.S. men looking to polish off a perfect run through Group C against Puerto Rico. The women, meanwhile, begin their final group-play round, with undefeated Serbia and China facing off atop Group A. Follow along for a recap of all the action as it unfolds.
MEN”S STANDINGS
WOMEN’S STANDINGS
Women’s Group A: China 80, Puerto Rico 58
Both teams entered this one 0-2, knowing that a loss would mean elimination. China not only kept its hopes of advancing to the knockout stage alive but gave them a huge boost, smothering Puerto Rico for an 80-58 win that leaves it in third place in Group A — and with a point differential (-1) currently better than other potential third-place competition like Nigeria, Australia, Canada and Belgium.
Puerto Rico made the first basket of the game to take a 3-0 lead, but it would trail for the rest of the day as China won each quarter by at least five points. Li Yueru poured in 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting and added seven rebounds to lead a balanced Chinese attack that featured five different players in double-figures. But it was China’s defense that really made the difference, holding Puerto Rico below 40% from the field and stars Mya Hollingshed and Isalys Quinyones to a combined 8-for-37.
The loss eliminates Puerto Rico from contention at 0-3. China, meanwhile, will have to wait for the results of Saturday and Sunday’s remaining group-stage games to see where it stacks up among the other third-place squads. (As a reminder, the top two third-place teams join the six first- and second-place teams in the quarterfinals.)
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