Aussies, Japan win women’s basketball openers

Australia, powered by Elizabeth Cambage’s 20 points and 14 rebounds, held off Brazil while Japan downed stubborn Belarus in opening preliminary round games Saturday at the Rio Olympics.
Australia’s Opals, who have taken three silver medals and two bronzes in the past five Olympics, downed the Olympic hosts 84-66 while Japan edged Belarus 77-73 in another Group A match.
Leilani Mitchell added 18 points while veteran guard Penny Taylor had 17 for the Aussies. Brazil captain Iziane Castro scored a game-high 25 points in a losing cause. Mika Kurihara scored 20 points and Ramu Tokashiki added 16 to spark Japan’s victory, while Japanese captain Asami Yoshida grabbed a team-best nine rebounds and passed out a game-high eight assists. Yelena Leuchanka led Belarus with 15 points. Also in Group A, Endy Miyem and Sarah Michel each scored 14 points to spark 2012 Olympic runner-up France over stubborn Turkey 55-39. French captain Isabelle Yacoubou pulled down 11 rebounds and helped ignite a game-ending 12-0 run by France to secure the victory.
Turkey, paced by 16 points from captain Nevriye Zilmaz, led 16-8 after the first quarter and were within 22-19 at half-time.
In Group B, Tamara Tatham scored 20 points and every Canadian player produced points in Canada’s 90-68 rout of China in their first Olympic meeting for 20 years. Canadian captain Kim Gaucher added game highs of 10 rebounds and seven assists while reserve Chen Nan led China with 13 points and Chen Xiaojia had 12.
Five-time defending champion United States, riding a 41-game Olympic win streak, will open Sunday against Senegal in a Group B matchup.