The Opals have defeated Serbia 69-54 on Sunday to boost their hopes of progressing to the knockout rounds of the women’s basketball World Cup — but the victory may have come at a cost.
Australia exacted revenge of sorts against their recent rival, who knocked the Opals out of the Rio Olympics and beat them again at the qualifying tournament earlier this year.
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The Aussies had a comfortable halftime lead but Serbia roared back from 18 points down to give the Opals a scare with some excellent shotmaking.
But the home side settled and showed strong defensive hustle to close out a comfortable win.
The victory was soured by an injury scare to Opals star Bec Allen, who had 16 points but pulled up gingerly after two separate incidents.
Allen came off with an ankle concern but returned to the court before copping a nasty hit to her back and hip area that left her wincing in pain.
She was helped from the court and left the Sydney Superdome in a wheelchair. Coach Sandy Brondello said Allen was “crushed” in the ribs during the play.
Allen likely suffered broken ribs and Brondello said she might miss a game or two.
The Opals have 24 hours to recover before they next face Canada on Monday night and they will be sweating on Allen’s fitness.
It was a bruising encounter against Serbia and Australia’s Sami Whitcomb copped a stray knock to the face and appeared to suffer a broken nose that left her bleeding.
Play had to be stopped so her blood could be wiped off the court.
But Whitcomb brushed off the painful blow post-game.
“Yeah it’s fine,” she told ESPN.
“It probably doesn’t look great. It’s fine, it’s just a scratch.”
Australia’s FIBA World Cup campaign got off to a shaky start with an opening loss to France, but the back-to-back wins over Mali and Serbia has put the Opals back on track for the knockout stages.
The tournament hosts will be aiming to defeat Canada and Japan in their remaining group stage matches to avoid facing powerhouses the USA and China in the quarterfinals.
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