LONDON (AP) — Celine Dumerc scored 12 points and France clinched the top spot in the group with a 65-54 victory over Russia on Sunday in Olympic women’s basketball.
The win means France (5-0) will avoid a matchup with the U.S. until the gold medal game if the Americans beat China later in the day. After beating both Australia and Britain in overtime, France didn’t need any late game shots to get past Russia.
France led by four early in the third quarter before Dumerc sparked a 17-3 run that made it 44-26 with 4:07 left. Dumerc had seven points and two assists during the burst.
Russia (3-2) scored the next six points, but France closed the third period with a 11-2 run to seal the victory.
Evgeniya Belyakova scored 14 points to lead Russia, which already had advanced to the quarterfinals.
