Serbia put up a strong offensive run in the third period to beat China 80-72 and secure their first victory in Group B of the ongoing women's basketball tournament at the 2016 Rio Olympics on Friday.

According to Xinhua, Los Angeles Sparks shooting guard Ana Dabovic led the winning team with 23 points while Phoenix Mercury forward Sonja Petrovic added 20 points and eight rebounds with six assists.

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The Serbians established a 24-14 lead in the opening quarter, with Dabovic scoring 11 points during that period. However, the Chinese women scored the first six points in the second period and fought back with a 17-6 charge to take the lead 31-30 before Serbia capped the first half with a 9-4 run to lead by six points 40-34.

In the second half of the game, things changed abruptly when both sides came back from the break. Serbia stormed the opposing team with a remarkable 26-9 run to build a comfortable 23-point lead 66-43 heading into the final quarter of the game.

Bayi Kylins' veteran center Sun Mengran topped all Chinese scorers with 16 points.

According to Fox News Latino, the victory puts the Europeans on track for a berth in the quarterfinals. Meanwhile, China is on the brink of elimination.

With both teams having an identical 1-3 win-loss record, Serbia will face the winless Senegal while China will play the undefeated United States in the last round of the pool play on August 14.

The United States snatched their fourth win of the tournament, beating Canada 81-51 to top the group. This was the first time that the world's top-ranked women's basketball team failed to score 100 points in a match.

Meanwhile, the world No. 3 Spain easily overpowered Senegal 97-43 in the last match of the day. 

TagsWNBA, wcba, 2016 Rio Olympics, Sun Mengran, ana dabovic, sonja petrovic