MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - West Virginia University women’s basketball alums Natalie Burton and Yelena Leuchanka picked up wins with Australia and Belarus, respectively, on Tuesday in the 2016 Summer Olympic Games Group A play at the Youth Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Australia (3-0) registered its most dominating win so far in Rio with an 89-71 victory over France on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Belarus (1-2) overcame a 15-point first half deficit and held on for its first win with a 65-63 triumph over the host country Brazil.
The Opals used a valiant 31-point effort from captain Penny Taylor in the victory over No. 4-ranked France. Australia, which ranks second in the world, shot 49 percent (28-of-57) from the field and held the French to 42 percent (26-of-62) shooting. The Green and Yellow took a commanding lead in the first quarter and stretched their advantage to 34-19 with 5:17 remaining in the second quarter.
Burton made her third start, pulling down two rebounds and dishing out an assist in 13-plus minutes. With the victory, Australia sits atop the Group A standings at 3-0 and are assured an appearance in the quarterfinals.
In its two previous losses, Belarus had lost by a combined five points, including a one-point defeat to France on Sunday. Brazil came out on fire, taking a 35-20 lead in the second quarter. However, Belarus chipped away at halftime to make it a 40-35 contest. Brazil took a 63-62 lead on a basket by Clarissa dos Santos with 1:18 remaining. Belarus answered when Tatyana Troina nailed a trey with 53 seconds remaining. Leuchanka was credited with the assist. Brazil’s final three-point attempt in the final seconds bounced off the rim to give the Red and Green its first win of the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Troina led the team with 18 points, followed by Leuchanka’s 15 points. Leuchanka contributed with six rebounds, two assists and two steals. The 2006 WVU alum is tied for seventh with an 18.3 efficiency per game rating. With the win, Belarus’ hopes to advance to the quarterfinals remain alive as the team sits in the fourth and final spot in Group A.
Belarus resumes Group A play against Turkey in an 11:15 a.m. ET contest on Thursday, Aug. 11. Australia caps action later in the day at 4:45 p.m. ET against undefeated Japan.
Both games will be streamed live at
NBCOlympics.com. Group action for Australia and Belarus will continue until Saturday with both teams having two games left to play. The top four teams in Group A and B will advance to the quarterfinal stage.
Thursday, Aug. 11
11:15 a.m. ET (NBCOlympics.com) - Yelena Leuchanka – Belarus vs. Turkey
4:45 p.m. ET (NBCOlympics.com) - Natalie Burton – Australia vs. Japan
Group A Standings
Team Record Points
Australia 3-0 6
France 2-1 5
Japan 2-0 4
Belarus 1-2 4
Brazil 0-2 3
Turkey 0-2 2
