ANKARA
Australia beat 2024 Olympics hosts France 79-72 in women’s basketball to qualify for the quarterfinals on Sunday.
Tess Madgen led Australia, scoring 18 points for the Opals in a Group B game at Pierre Mauroy Stadium in Lille.
Australia’s Ezi Magbegor scored 14 points, and her teammates Sami Whitcomb and Alanna Smith added 12 points each.
French forward Gabby Williams had 15 points to be the highest scorer of the hosts. Williams was the only France player to score in double digits.
Australia have a 2-1 win/loss record in the group to wrap up second place after already-qualified France, which also have two wins in three appearances.
Nigeria also made the last eight at the Paris Games after they stunned Canada 79-70 in Lille.
Nigeria won two games to stay in France, but Canada bottomed Group B and have been eliminated after losing all three of their games.
Team USA beat Germany 87-68 to win Group C with three victories. US player Jackie Young scored 19 points to be the game’s top scorer. Both teams have already clinched the knockouts.
Third-place Belgium hammered Japan 85-58 to progress to the last eight at Paris 2024.
Emma Meesseman of Belgium displayed an emphatic performance by scoring 30 points and taking 11 rebounds. She also made four assists and five blocks in the Japan game.
Japan returned home as they were handed three losses in Group C.
As a result, the women’s basketball quarterfinals, which will be held on Wednesday, have been set.
Germany will meet France, Spain will play Belgium, Team USA will face Nigeria, and Australia will play against Serbia.
Italy beat Türkiye in women’s volleyball, both into last 8
Italy beat Türkiye 3-0 in a Paris 2024 women’s volleyball Pool C match Sunday to be the group winners.
Julio Velasco’s Italy won the Türkiye match with sets of 25-14, 25-16 and 25-21 at South Paris Arena 1. Italian star Paola Egonu scored a game-high 20 points to be the key player.
Melissa Vargas led Türkiye as she racked up 13 points.
Italy had a perfect run to win all three of their matches. Türkiye had a 2-1 win/loss record to finish second. Both teams booked their places in the last eight.
In another match of the day, Team USA beat France in Pool A in straight sets of 29-27, 29-27 and 25-20 to make the quarterfinals.
France have been eliminated as they lost three matches in this pool.
The women’s last eight in volleyball will start on Tuesday.
Brazil will play the Dominican Republic, Team USA will face Poland, China will meet Türkiye and Italy will take on Serbia.
The Paris 2024 Games will end on Aug. 11.
