Australia beats Turkey for 2nd win at Women’s Basketball World Cup, U.S. plays Italy later

BERLIN (AP) — Ezi Magbegor scored 21 points as Australia reached the final phase of the Women’s Basketball World Cup with a physical 87-71 win over Turkey on Sunday.

Turkey, led by Sevgi Uzun with 24 points, was down 8-0 at the start but fought back after a timeout to lead 15-14. That was brief, however, as the Opals rallied to end the first quarter 21-15 up and they did not relinquish the lead for the rest of the game.

Turkey’s Goksen Fitik went off with what appeared to be a right-ankle injury in the third quarter but she returned in the fourth.

The Australian team features seven World Cup debutants. Team captain Sami Whitcomb of the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury had to withdraw before the tournament with a lingering knee injury.

Australia next plays European champion Belgium on Monday in a showdown that will likely decide which side progresses directly to the quarterfinals as group winner. Australia, after two wins, is already assured of at least a playoff place in the final phase of the competition.

Belgium faced Puerto Rico in their second group game later Sunday.

Also later, the United States played Italy with Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese and Paige Bueckers bidding to stretch the Americans’ winning run to 32 games. The U.S. hasn’t lost a game at the World Cup since the semifinal game of the 2006 tournament.

Also, China with 7-foot-3 Zhang Ziyu was playing the Czech Republic with both teams looking for their first wins.

See AP’s full WNBA coverage here