Marianna Tolo poured in 26 points and pulled down 17 rebounds on Monday at Saitama Super Arena to help Australia (1-2) beat Puerto Rico (0-3) by the necessary 24 points to give it the point differential tiebreaker over Canada (1-2) and advance it to the Tokyo 2020 quarterfinals. The final score was 96-69.
Australia, the No. 2 team in the world behind the United States, was in danger of missing the quarterfinals without their best player in Liz Cambage, who is sitting out the Olympics as a mental health precaution. Instead, they are now playing the U.S. in the quarterfinals — a matchup many thought could be the gold medal game even with Australia missing Cambage.
Cayla George added 19 points, seven rebounds and five assists for Australia against Puerto Rico while Jenna O’Hea (15 points, five rebounds, four assists) and Leilani Mitchell (12 points, six assists) were also key.
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China (3-0) over Belgium (2-1), 74-62
China came back from down four after one to spoil Belgium’s perfection at the Olympics. Yueru Li led the way with 14 points and eight rebounds. Emma Meesseman continued her Olympic tear in defeat, notching 24 points, seven rebounds and four steals. Both teams advanced to the quarterfinals.