RUS/BRA – Russia turn on style in fourth quarter to beat Brazil

BEIJING (Olympics) – Russia struggled for much of the game but finally came good in the fourth quarter to beat Brazil 74-64 to remain unbeaten at the Olympics.

Tatiana Shchegoleva’s 12 points led a balanced scoring attack for the Russians, who out-rebounded the Brazilians 47-28.

Russia will now take on Australia on Sunday to determine the winner of Group A. The Opals beat the Russians in the final of the 2006 FIBA World Championship.

Most people expect the Aussies to meet the United States in the final.

"Don't think about us!” Shchegoleva said to FIBA.com, preferring for Russia to remain under the radar. “We have always said we were here for the medals and we will try to take gold.”

The loss was Brazil’s fourth straight in Beijing and knocked them out of contention for a place in the quarter-finals.

Brazil led by as many as eight points in the first half and took a 56-54 lead to the fourth quarter after a running three-pointer from Adriana Pinto right before the buzzer. She would finish with a game-high 21 points.

Paulo Bassul’s team was outscored 20-8 in the final period, though.

Shchegoleva began the quarter with a three-point play and they stayed on top the rest of the way.

"We are sadder today than we were after our defeat to Latvia because today we bounced back after losing three games and showed a different attitude,” veteran forward Ega said to FIBA.com.

“We were ready to play and we almost surprised the European champions.”

Russia’s versatile forward Svetlana Abrosimova says observers should not be fooled by Russia’s unbeaten start to the Olympics.

"Every game has been tough for us and today was no exception,” she said to FIBA.com. “It's tough. Every team is very competitive at the Olympics.

“We were down by eight points against Brazil. We are still trying to find our style, still trying to find our game. But I like the way we finish our games, somehow we find a way to win.

"I feel like our offense is not clicking right now. We just have to find our chemistry somehow because right now it's so frustrating.

“We have a lot of better players than we are showinig right now. We haven't reached our potential.”

FIBA