London: Opals too strong for Brazilians + VIDEO
The Opals have improved to 2-1 in London, defeating South American champions Brazil.
The Opals have gotten their London campaign back on track with a hard-fought 67-61 victory over Brazil.
Lauren Jackson nailed a pair of free throws in the closing seconds to seal the win. She finished with 18 points and eight rebounds for the match while Liz Cambage added 17 points and 10 rebounds. Suzy Batkovic chimed in with 11 points and six rebounds.
Karla Costa led the Brazilians with 22 points, while the South Americans' leading scorer Erika de Souza was limited to 11 points.
The win improved the Opals to 2-1 in Group B, with two games left to play in the preliminary round.
The Opals started strongly and scored the last seven points of the opening period to lead 15-10 after one.
Australia widened their lead in the second, and when the Brazilians had a buzzerbeating three waved away, the Opals took a 13 point lead into the main change, 31-18.
The Opals hung tough against mounting Brazilian pressure in the third, and took a 51-40 lead into the final break.
In the final period, Brazil closed within four points late, but the Opals held firm to take the win.
During the match, Opals star Lauren Jackson surpassed archrival Lisa Leslie of the USA to become the all-time scoring leader in Olymic women's basketball.
The Opals now face Russia on Friday night Australian time.
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