Russia claim final spot in FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2022
SANTO DOMINGO (Dominican Republic) - Behind 18 made three-pointers, Russia powered their way past Puerto Rico, 102-68, to book the 12th and final spot in the FIBA Women's World Cup 2022 in Sydney.
"We haven't been in the World Cup since 2010 and now 12 years later, we are back."
This will be Russia's fifth appearance at a World Cup and their first since 2010.
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Russia crashed the glass and used their height advantage from the beginning, as they grabbed 18 rebounds in the first quarter.
Puerto Rico hung around through the first half, as they trailed 42-33 after two quarters, but Russia came out firing in the second half and outscored them 31-12 in the third quarter.
Russia then pulled away for a 73-45 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Captain Raisa Musina led the way for Russia, doing a little bit of everything, as she posted a huge double-double with 20 points, 17 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 blocks on 6-of-12 shooting from the field.
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Nina Glonti also had a solid all-around game with 18 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists on 7-of-9 shooting from the field and 3-of-4 from three-point.
Russia finished the game with an astounding 35 assists on their 37 total made field goals and they were clicking in all phases of the game.
"We haven't been in the World Cup since 2010 and now 12 years later, we are back," said Russia head coach Alexander Kovalev. "So, congratulations to all who supported us. The girls stuck to the gameplan all 40 minutes. Everything that happened on the court went fine."
"First, I want to say that I'm proud of my team, even who is not here," said Musina. "I think today, we played really like a team. We find the open shots, we score a lot of threes. ... We will continue to do a good job and I hope everybody will see a different team in Sydney. We will do everything better."
Jazmon Gwathmey had a very strong finish to her qualifying tournament, leading Puerto Rico in the loss with 27 points and 9 rebounds on 12-of-18 shooting from the field.
After that performance, she finished as the tournament's leading scorer at 18.7 points per game in three games.
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