LILLE (France) - Serbia left the door open for courageous Puerto Rico in their opening game of the Women's Olympic Basketball Tournament Paris 2024 and were left breathing a sigh of relief as they managed to squeeze out an absorbing 58-55 success.
The European side might feel fortunate to have not been on the wrong end of history and left a devastated Puerto Rico still searching for the the first Olympic triumph they crave. The atmosphere in the arena was electric during the frantic 4th quarter as 15,324 fans were having a great time.
Turning point
Puerto Rico were down by 20 points at one stage and it looked as if Serbia would cruise to victory. However they rallied in the last quarter and cut the gap to just 2 points heading into the last few seconds.
Just when it looked like they might pull off a historic and crazy comeback success, Serbian forward Dragana Stankovic produced a game-winning block on Pamela Rosado and then also finished the job for her team with a free-throw.
This game report will be updated soon.
Game hero
Dragana Stankovic rode a real roller-coster in this game. Excellent in the first half, but then like the rest of Serbia struggled in the last period. However, she was hugely impactful at both ends of the floor with not only the game-winning play, but also a superb 15 points, 10 rebounds, 4 blocks and 3 steals.
Stats don't lie
Serbia had more than double the offensive rebounds of Puerto Rico and in a tight game, 15 offensive boards compared to 7 was important.
Bottom line
Serbia dodged a major bullet after dominating and then going to pieces as their opponents posted a 14-point run. They could have easily lost, but will at least take comfort in being able to dig out victory, while the added bonus is that this will be a major wake-up call ahead of Spain and China. However, head coach Marina Maljkovic will now be ready to make sure her team responds to this scare.
Puerto Rico will be kicking themselves for that sleepy start which gave them a mountain to climb in the end. They almost did it and overhauled that 20-point gap, but just didn't have an answer to their big guns Mya Hollingshed and Arella Guirantes being shut down. Still, the island will be super proud of their resilence and desire to almost pull of an incredible comeback win.
They said
"Second half we didn't start good and we had a lot of mistakes with them scoring and us missing some easy shots. At the end of the game we still showed we are a team and stuck with each other. It is important that we won, be we can't think any more about this game." Serbia forward, Dragana Stankovic
"I think it was two types of game. We came out a bit nervous. They did a great job trapping us in the first-half. We went to the locker room and we made some adjustments and afterwards we handled the pressure differently. We are not used to playing physical but we did a great job and they only scored 3 points in the last quarter." Puerto Rico head coach, Gerardo Batista.
Quick Notes
- This is Serbia’s eighth win in the Olympics – they have now more wins (W8) than losses in the competition (L7); this was the first time that Serbia allowed 60 or fewer points in a game at the Olympics. - Puerto Rico lost by a three point margin, their lowest defeat ever in the Olympics; this was also the game in which they allowed the fewest points in the competition (58), after conceding 87+ points in each of the previous three. Puerto Rico allowed only three points in the fourth quarter, the lowest ever by a team in the last period of a game at the Olympics and a joint-low in any quarter ever in the competition (also 3pts allowed by Brazil against Japan in 2004, and by France against Turkey in 2016). - Dragana Stankovic (Serbia) blocked four shots in tonight’s game against Puerto Rico, as many as in her previous 12 games in the competition; she is only the third player to have made 15+ points, 10+ rebounds, 3+ steals and 3+ blocks in the history of the Olympics, after Emma Meesseman in the last tournament (v Japan) and Erika Dobrovicova in 1992 (v Brazil). - Pamela Rosado dished out seven assists in today’s game, the most for her with Puerto Rico at the Olympics; her five rebounds were also the most for Rosado at the Olympics.
FIBA