Australia's Cambage still unstoppable, Japan edge Belgium at FIBA Women's World Cup

Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-23 23:22:29|Editor: yan
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TENERIFE, Spain, Sept. 23 (Xinhua) -- Liz Cambage once again showed her dominance in paint field to hand Australia an overwhelming 84-43 win over Argentina, while Japan managed to beat debutantes Belgium 77-75 through overtime at the 2018 FIBA Women's World Cup here on Sunday.

After finishing with 34 points and 12 rebounds in Saturday's opener, Cambage scored 24 points shooting 75 percent in field goals in less than 18 minutes.

Powering to a 10-0 start after the tip-off, Australia never seemed threatened by Argentina throughout the match.

Four Australian players scored double-figure points. Samantha Allison Whitcomb and Ezi Magbegor had 16 and 14 respectively.

Like Australia, Canada celebrated their second straight victory after breezing past South Korea 82-63.

56-65 down with 6:17 remaining from time, Belgium turned the table to lead 66-65 in a span of over four minutes, powered by their consecutive attacks in the paint field.

Evelyn Mawuli's three-pointer with 1:02 remaining tied the score at 68-all, but both sides wasted several ensuing chances of moving in front.

With 0.6 seconds to go, Kim Mestdagh missed the jumper which could be a buzzer beater as the regular time expired.

The neck-to-neck contention continued in overtime, as Himawari Akaho converted one of two free throws to earn Japan a two-point lead. Mestdagh, who scored 23 for Belgium, saw her desperate jumper blocked. Belgian center Emma Meesseman, playing for WNBA side Washington Mystics, had 13 points and 18 boards.

Maki Takada had a game-high 26 points for Japan. Yuki Miyazawa added 21 and finished the game-winning block in overtime. Promising point guard Manami Fujioka dished out eight assists.

Senegal and Latvia put on another close contention where the African side triumphed 70-69. The other Group D match between China and the United States will be played later on Sunday.

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