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Women's Basketball World Cup full of surprises in the opening rounds

THE preliminary round of the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup had its share of upsets, comebacks and surprises.

Two African nations qualified for the knockout round, with Nigeria and Senegal both advancing. It's the first time that any team from that continent has made it this far — let alone two teams.

“It feels good off the back of making history with our first win against Turkey to have now followed it up by beating Argentina,” Nigeria guard Ezinne Kalu said.

"We're working hard and staying focused. It is exciting for us making more and more history with a team that is very closely bonded together and we want to continue on this journey for longer."

Belgium, playing in its first World Cup, won Group C with a nine-point victory over host Spain yesterday. Emma Meesseman hit a lay-up just before the buzzer to give Belgium a wide enough margin of victory to clinch first place in the pool.

“I think it is one of our biggest ever wins and especially to get it after losing a close game in overtime against Japan,” Belgium guard Julie Allemand said.

“We are going to enjoy this now and rest for two days. To get to the top eight of the competition first-time, is amazing.”

Spain wasn't completely distraught by the loss though, as now the Spaniards will avoid potentially meeting the United States until the gold medal game.

The US, to no surprise, went through 3-0 in the preliminary round. Although they definitely had a tougher time than expected against Senegal and China before blowing out Latvia. The US passed the 100-point mark in its last two games, becoming only the second team, along with the Soviet Union, to reach the century mark in two pool games.

They, along with Australia, Canada and Belgium, earned byes to the quarter-finals tomorrow.

The crowds for the opening two days of play at the FIBA Women's World Cup have been strong, with games taking place over the weekend.

With the final day of the preliminary round yesterday, the local organising committee brought in school kids to fill the stands for the early 11am tip. They made flags and signs to support the two teams and also brought in drums, creating a festive atmosphere. Usually camp and school days in the WNBA have the kids cheering for the home team. Here, with the kids equally divided, both sides had loud support.

“It was a great atmosphere, even better than WNBA kids’ games because they were cheering for both sides,” said Jazmon Gwathmey, who scored 23 points for Puerto Rico and plays for the Indiana Fever in the WNBA.

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