FRA - Defense Never Rests For France

PARIS (2010 FIBA World Championship for Women) - France may not have injured center Sandrine Gruda for the FIBA World Championship but they still know how to play good defense.

France beat the normally high-scoring Japanese 62-56 on Thursday.

"The defensive performance was at the top,” France coach Pierre Vincent said.

“They (Japan) were limited to 56 points while on average they put up 80."

"It's been very tiring to play Japan," France's Jennifer Digbeu said.

"We stopped prevented them from taking a lot of three-pointers."

Japan usually put up more shots from the arc than the 23 they attempted against France.

The visitors made seven of them.

Bourge's Emeline Ndongue, France's biggest threat on the inside with Gruda now out of action, had 16 points to lead the winners.

France will play against the United States, Greece and Senegal in Group B of the FIBA World Championship for Women while Japan are in Group D with Russia, Argentina and the Czech Republic.

That event tips off on September 23.

FIBA