France beats Canada 68-63, reaches women's basketball semisWed, 17 Aug, 2016
| Posted By: The Times Of Earth (TOE)
France's Valeriane Ayayi (11) drives to the basket ahead of Canada's Miah-Marie Langlois (4) during a quarterfinal round basketball game at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2016. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
France is headed back to a familiar place — the women's basketball semifinals.
Sandrine Gruda scored 14 points and Valeriane Ayayi added 12 to help France beat Canada 68-63 on Tuesday night. The victory set up a rematch of the 2012 gold medal game with the U.S., a game France lost by 36 points.
Trailing 52-50 early in the fourth quarter, France (4-2) scored eight straight points. Canada rallied to within 60-59 with 1:55 left, but couldn't get over the top. Kia Nurse missed a jumper 40 seconds later that would have given the Canadians the lead. Olivia Epoupa, replacing injured guard Celine Dumerc, calmly sank two free throws to make it a three-point game.
The loss ended a solid Olympic run by Canada, which was trying to make the semifinals for the first time since 1984. Kim Gaucher had 15 points to lead Canada (3-3).