Serbia snap up final spot to Tokyo with second success in Belgrade

BELGRADE (Serbia) - Serbia celebrated punching their ticket to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics as they wrapped up the final spot on home soil by beating Mozambique 76-48.

The FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament Group A hosts overcame a slow start to see off African opposition for the second day in a row to join USA and Nigeria in Tokyo.

Turning Point: Mozambique started brightly to fuel their own Olympic dreams as they led 21-16 after 10 minutes. However, Serbia gradually closed in and dominated the middle periods to establish a firm grip of the contest. Mozambique were held to a combined 9 points in the second and fourth quarters.

Game Hero: The scoring was spread out through the roster for Serbia with Ana Dabovic leading the effort with 12 points, 6 assists and 3 steals as the bench were able to get their chance in the second half. 

Stats Don't Lie: Mozambique may have lost the game by 28 but actually had the better shooting percentages for the majority of the contest. The problem was they allowed Serbia to have an extra 25 shot attempts having committed 32 turnovers to hinder their chances.

Bottom Line: As expected, Serbia are heading to the Olympics but an opening day loss to the USA left no room for error as they bounced back against Nigeria and Mozambique. The battle between the two African nations on Day 1 did prove decisive, though Mozambique can hold their heads high after a resilient showing in Belgrade.

 
FIBA