AUS/LAT – Opals rout Latvia in second half as Jackson explodes for tournament-high 30

BEIJING (Olympics) - Latvia gave Australia fits for a half but the world champions stepped up the defense in the third quarter and rolled to a 96-73 win.
 
Lauren Jackson made five of nine shots from three-point range and scored a tournament-high 30 points for the Opals, who will now take on Russia on Sunday in a game to decide first place in Group B.
 
While Australia won for the fourth time in as many games, Latvia suffered their third defeat, leaving them in a must-win situation against Korea on Friday just to have a chance of reaching the quarter-finals.
 
“Of course we’re trying to get to the quarter-finals but we have to beat Korea,” Latvia point guard Zane Eglite said to FIBA.com.
 
“They are a really fast team. I think maybe even faster than Japan was in Madrid (at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Women). We’ll do whatever we can to win that game.”
 
Aussie Belinda Snell also offered some encouraging words to the Latvians,  who made six of 11 shots from long range in the first half and 14 of 25 from the floor overall.
 
“I think Latvia can beat Korea,” Snell said. “They shot lights out in the first half but then again, Korea have also played well.”
 
Latvia, playing in their first Olympics, opened a 30-23 lead midway through the second quarter after a basket from Zane Tamane and a three-pointer from Ieva Kublina.
 
Jackson scored eight points in a 10-1 burst for the Aussies that gave them a 34-31 lead with three minutes to go before half-time.
 
They took a 41-38 lead to the break with Jackson’s 17 leading all scorers. The Opals then claimed a stranglehold on the game in the third quarter by outscoring the Latvians 35-18.
 
Despite putting an incredibly high number of points on the board in the frame, it was what Australia did at the other end of the floor that impressed Opals coach Jan Stirling the most.
 
“The girls were a little bit down at half-time,” Stirling said.
 
“We knew that the third quarter was going to be a big one for us and I thought our defense in the third quarter was sensational. But against Russia, you have to do that for 40 minutes.”
 
Australia thrashed Russia in the final of the 2006 FIBA World Championship for Women in Brazil.
 
“We were certainly challenged in a way that ultimately we’ll take a lot of positives from,” Stirling said.
 
“I think we’re doing okay, we’re improving in each game,” Snell said to FIBA.com.
 
“We knew at half-time, Lauren spoke to us and said we need to get the intensity up but we knew we would win.”
 
Suzy Batkovic had another impressive game for Australia with 18 points and four rebounds, while Penny Taylor showed her quality with an 11-point, 11-rebound effort.
 
The Australians are now firmly focused on Sunday’s game.
 
“I think our pool is probably the toughest of the two, and I think Sunday’s game is important,” Australia point guard Kristi Harrower said after another superb game with 10 points, four assists, six rebounds and a game-high three steals.
 
“You don’t want to meet the USA until the gold medal game. If we have to meet Russia in the semi-final, hopefully we’ll get some confidence.
 
“But it’s also important to come out and play well. We’ve played well, but not for 40 minutes and that’s what we need to do on Sunday against Russia.”

FIBA