LILLE (France) - Spain celebrated a 90-89 overtime success against China as the Women's Olympic Basketball Tournament Paris 2024 tipped off with a stunning advert for female hoops.
Turning point
There were only a handful of seconds left in regulation when Rodriguez hit a huge triple from the wing and was fouled in the process. While she didn't sink the free-throw to potentially win the game, it was the moment that changed the entire momentum of the contest.
Game heroes
Gustafson was absolute fire and finished with 29 points. She tied for 10th place on the Olympic Women's Tournament all-time list for most field goals made with 14.
Rodriguez will never forget her contribution of 25 points - as well as that triple which will be talked about for years to come.
For China, Li Yueru had a monster game with 31 points, 15 rebounds, 37 Efficiency rating. She also tied for 10th place on the Olympic Women's Tournament all-time list for most free throws made with 12.
Stats don't lie
China threw the ball away far too many times and their 23 turnovers hurt them compared to just 8 for Spain. Meanwhile Spain were struggling from long-range with just 4 of 17, but that pivotal Rodriguez bucket showed that sometimes stats do lie.
Bottom line
This was an extraordinary win for Spain. With Maria Conde still unable to play with an injury, Rodriguez filled the gap with her heroics. Gustafson proved a point with getting the thumbs up in the naturalized spot. But this was a team performance. The control of having just 8 turnovers and the quick hands and steals all contributed to a famous and memorable win.
China shot themselves in the foot - big time. They should have seen the game out but their defense disintegrated in the closing stages. Combined with throwing the ball away too much at the other end of the floor, it was a painful one. They will also have to answer the question of why they went inside in the last seconds of overtime when they were three-points behind.
They said
We never give up - Leticia Romero
"We never give up and we always fight. That is how our team is. That feeling and that fight is the best," Spanish guard, Leticia Romero.
"It's difficult to make an analysis of this game. It was up and and down. The team really did play like a team. We have to play with this kind of emotion, but not all of our players have the experience. I am very happy but it is only game number one," Spain head coach, Miguel Menez.
Quick notes
- Spain have won their opening game of an Olympic tournament for the third time in a row; it was their second game with overtime in the competition, the first one was also during an opening game, in 2004 against Czech Republic (W 80-78). - It’s only the third time that China lost a game at the Olympics despite leading at half-time, after their defeats 53-62 against Italy in 1996 and 60-75 against Australia in 2012. - Spain’s Megan Gustafson and Leonor Rodriguez scored respectively 29 and 25 points today, the last time a team had two players with 25+ points in a single game at the Olympics was Brazil in 2000 against South Korea (Janeth Arcain 28pts and Alessandra Oliveira 26pts). - Megan Gustafson’s 29 points are the third-best total for a Spanish player in a game at the Olympics, the two players that scored more points also did that against China: Amaya Valdemoro, 30pts in 2004 and Alba Torrens, 32pts in 2016. Gustafson made 14 2-pointers today, a joint-high for a player in her first game at the Olympics (also Emma Meesseman in 2021 against Australia). - Yueru Li (31pts, 15reb) became the third player to combine 30+ points and 15+ rebounds in a game at the Olympics, after Uljana Semjonova in 1976 against USA (32pts, 19reb) and Haixia Zheng in 1996 against Japan (31pts, 16reb).
FIBA