Sunday, August 4, 1996

Aussies win country's first basketball medal

 ATLANTA (AP) -- The Australian women won the country's first Olympic basketball medal Sunday with a 66-56 victory over Ukraine in the bronze medal game.
 With a fourth place in 1988 the best previous finish for an Australian women's team -- a fourth in 1988 and again this year is the best the Australian men ever managed -- the victory set off an emotional celebration.
 The team stayed in a long hug at center court before sprinting to join family and friends in the stands behind one of the baskets.
 "People said it was just another big game in a tournament, but that's garbage. This was for the bronze medal," point guard Michelle Timms said. "It meant a lot to us, I know it meant a lot to Australian women's basketball and it meant a lot to the people who supported us back home."
 The crowd favorite throughout the tournament because of its tight lycra unitard uniforms, Australia (5-3) came up with a big performance against Ukraine (4-4), never leading by fewer than seven during the final 10 minutes.
 With Timms, considered one of the world's best point guards, having a below-par performance, center Michelle Brogan responded with 19 points and 12 rebounds. Reserve guard Sandy Brondello added 13 points.
 Ukraine, which upset Australia 54-48 in the preliminary round, was within 47-42 with 10:50 to play. But Jennifer Whittle's 3-pointer started an 8-1 run in which Brogan and Brondello scored the rest of the points to give Australia a 12-point lead with 7:05 left.
 "You don't need to analyze it. We shot 22 percent in that first game. You're not going to win with that," Australia coach Tom Maher said of the earlier meeting. "We didn't change anything. We just made some shots."
 Timms, who came into the game averaging 16.9 points, had four points on 1-for-8 shooting.
 "When we play well, I actually don't score," Timms said. "When I score well, we lose. That's what we really needed. We needed points across the board rather than one person scoring all the points. It was fantastic to see everybody step up like that."
 Yelena Zhirko led Ukraine, the surprise team in the semifinals in its Olympic debut, with 16 points and nine rebounds.
 Australia lost 93-71 to the United States in the semifinals, while Ukraine was beaten 81-60 by Brazil.