Spain downs Serbia to reach women's hoops final in Rio
Alba Torrens and Astou Ndour each scored 14 points and Spain secured a first-ever Olympic women's basketball medal Thursday by defeating Serbia 68-54 in a semi-final game.
The Spaniards will play for a gold medal Saturday against the winner of a later semi-final between five-time defending champion United States and 2012 Olympic runner-up France.
Despite the defeat, European champion Serbia can capture its first women's hoops medal by defeating the US-France loser in Saturday's bronze medal matchup.
Laura Nicholls added 13 points and 12 rebounds for Spain while Sasa Cado and Sonja Petrovic each scored 12 points to lead Serbia.
The Serbians started 0-3 in Rio, including a 65-59 group-stage loss to Spain, but became the only quarter-finalist with a losing record and upset Australia 73-71, sending the Opals home empty handed after medals in five consecutive Olympics.
Spain, runner-up to the US in the 2014 World Championships and third in last year's European tournament, improved to 6-1 in Rio, losing only to the Americans.
Spanish captain Laia Palau scored five points in a 13-3 run to close the first quarter as Spain took a 20-9 lead, but Serbia opened the second quarter with an 11-2 spurt, seven points from Cado helping trim the deficit to 22-20.
Spain led 33-28 at half-time and began the third quarter with a 13-2 run for a 46-30 advantage, guard Silvia Dominguez's five points leading the way and closing the spurt that put the Spaniards comfortably ahead to stay.