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Cuba latest to give Kiwis a hard time Associated Press SYDNEY, Australia -- New Zealand's first appearance in women's Olympic basketball has been short of victories, but hasn't been lacking in effort. Cuba beat New Zealand 74-55 Wednesday to drop the Kiwis to 0-3 in their debut. "We've played hard. We've tried hard. We can't do any more. This is us," New Zealand coach Carl Dickel said. "The rest of the field is professionals. That's what they do for a living. That's a stumbling block for us, but we're not taking a backward step." New Zealand, which had the shortest trip to get to the Sydney Games, opened with a 75-52 loss to Poland, then was beaten 101-62 by South Korea. Cuba (1-2), which opened against Russia and the United States -- arguably the two best teams in the six-country pool group -- got off to a great start against New Zealand, taking a 16-4 lead. Cuba's lead was 45-29 at halftime and it never led by less than 10 points the rest of the way. Starting guard Kirstin Daly of New Zealand was struck near the throat by the elbow of Cuba's Lisdeivi Victores early in the second half as the Cuban player fought through a screen near the foul line. Daly was on the floor for several minutes and spent the rest of the game on the bench holding an ice pack to her throat. She was unable to talk after the game and Dickel said her status would be day-to-day. It was the second incident involving an elbow thrown by a Cuban player. Last Saturday, Russian point guard Irina Soumnikova was hit in the face by the elbow of Cuba's Maria Leon. She underwent two hours of plastic surgery Monday and also broke her right wrist in the fall. Russian coach Yevgeny Gomelsky called it an intentional elbow, something Leon denied. Dickel was upset no foul was called on the play involving Daly. "The referee said 'She's tall and she's small,"' Dickel said of the 6-foot-4 Victores and the 5-6 Daly. Yamilet Martinez led Cuba with 12 points, while Gina Farmer, who played at East Central Oklahoma, led New Zealand with 15. Next up for New Zealand is the United States. "That will obviously be a challenge," Dickel, the father of Nevada-Las Vegas point guard and New Zealand men's Olympian Mark Dickel, said with a laugh. "They are undoubtedly the best in the world. I don't think anyone will get closer than South Korea did (14 points). I'll bet no one gets 75 points against them like Korea did. They're just a good defensive team." France 70, Canada 58 -- France (3-0) guaranteed itself a berth in the quarterfinals in its first Olympic appearance. The inside-outside combination of Isabelle Fijalkowski and Catherine Melain struggled for most of the game, but combined to score 16 of France's last 17 points. Melain, a 6-0 guard, and Fijalkowski, a 6-5 center, were both 1-for-7 from the field in the first half and Canada continued a solid defensive job on them until the final six minutes. Melain's 3-point play with 6:09 left gave France a 56-50 lead, and she and Fijalkowski scored all but one of France's points the rest of the way. Canada didn't have a field goal over the final five minutes. Melain finished 7-for-16 from the field and had 21 points, while Fijalkowski, who plays for the WNBA's Cleveland Rockers, was 5-for-13 from the field and had 13 points and six rebounds. Clinching the quarterfinal berth might allow the French players to start having fun. "Up to now we've played at good level without humor," France coach Alain Jardel said. "We need to take more pleasure in this and I hope they realize that." France's next two games are against the best teams in the pool -- Brazil and Australia. Stacey Dales, who plays at Oklahoma, had 17 points for Canada (1-2), while Dianne Norman added 13 points and 13 rebounds. Brazil 82, Senegal 48 -- Helen Cristina Luz scored 21 points to lead Brazil (2-1) to the easy victory. Brazil used a 21-2 run to take a 31-11 lead and was up 44-23 at halftime, finishing with a 44-32 rebound advantage and forcing 20 turnovers. Alessandra Oliveira had 12 points and 11 rebounds for Brazil. Astou Ndiaye led Senegal (0-3) with 16 points. Poland 77, South Korea 62 -- Margo Dydek -- at 7-foot-2, 13 inches taller than South Korea's biggest starter -- had 26 points and 18 rebounds for Poland (2-1). Dydek, who plays for the WNBA's Utah Starzz, was coming off an eight-point effort in an 84-46 loss to Russia in which she was 2-for-15 from the field. She was 11-for-18 against South Korea, which played man-to-man defense the whole game. South Korea (1-2) was at 67-62 with 2:49 left, but Poland closed the game with a 10-0 run with Dydek and Sylwia Wlazlak, who finished with 17 points, each scoring four points. Jung Sun-Min had 19 points for South Korea, which was outrebounded 48-25 and hurt itself by going just 3-for-19 from 3-point range, including 1-for-9 in the second half. Australia 70, Slovakia 47 -- The host team clinched a berth in the quarterfinals with the easy victory that kept a sellout crowd of 8,412 cheering and singing in The Dome. Australia (3-0) took control in the first half with a suffocating press that forced turnover after turnover in a 10-0 run that made it 24-12 and the lead was 41-19 at halftime. Slovakia (0-3) did cause some apprehension with a 13-1 run over the first 6½ minutes of the second half, but Australia quickly righted things with a 12-0 run that made it 54-32 with 10 minutes left. Lauren Jackson led Australia with 15 points, while Jo Hill added 13. Martina Godalyova had 13 points for Slovakia, which shot 28.6 percent (16-for-56) and committed 19 turnovers. Michelle Timms, who plays for the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury and is the veteran leader of the Australian team, had a stomach virus and wasn't even on the bench. The point guard has been limited in her minutes as she continues to rehabilitate from arthroscopic knee surgery. |  | ALSO SEE U.S. women rally in second half to beat Russia in hoops Russian coach blasts Cuba for rough play Depth and defense push U.S. women past Cuba Dydek impressive in Olympic debut for Poland Swoopes, Leslie help U.S. hold off South Korea | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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