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Tag: WNBA basketball

  • 6 killed after vintage aircraft collide at Dallas air show

    6 killed after vintage aircraft collide at Dallas air show

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    DALLAS — Six people were killed after two historic military planes collided and crashed to the ground Saturday during a Dallas air show, officials said.

    “According to our Dallas County Medical Examiner, there are a total of 6 fatalities from yesterday’s Wings over Dallas air show incident,” Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins tweeted Sunday. He said authorities are continuing to work to identify the victims.

    The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and a Bell P-63 Kingcobra collided and crashed around 1:20 p.m., the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement. The collision occurred during the Commemorative Air Force Wings Over Dallas show.

    Several videos posted on social media showed the fighter plane appearing to fly into the bomber, causing them to quickly crash to the ground and setting off a large ball of fire and smoke.

    Air show safety — particularly with older military aircraft — has been a concern for years. In 2011, 11 people were killed in Reno, Nevada, when a P-51 Mustang crashed into spectators. In 2019, a bomber crashed in Hartford, Connecticut, killing seven people. The NTSB said then that it had investigated 21 accidents since 1982 involving World War II-era bombers, resulting in 23 deaths.

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  • Two aircraft collide, crash during Dallas air show

    Two aircraft collide, crash during Dallas air show

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    DALLAS — Two historic military planes collided and crashed to the ground Saturday during an air show in Dallas, exploding into a ball of flames and sending plumes of black smoke billowing into the sky. It was unclear how many people were on board the aircraft or if anyone on the ground was hurt.

    Leah Block, a spokesperson for Commemorative Air Force, which produced the Veterans Day weekend show and owned the crashed aircraft, told ABC News she believed there were five crew members on the B-17 Flying Fortress bomber and one aboard the P-63 Kingcobra fighter plane. The Houston-based aircraft were not giving rides to paying customers at the time, she said.

    Emergency crews raced to the crash scene at the Dallas Executive Airport, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) from the city’s downtown. Live TV news footage from the scene showed people setting up orange cones around the crumpled wreckage of the bomber, which was in a grassy area.

    Anthony Montoya saw the two planes collide.

    “I just stood there. I was in complete shock and disbelief,” said Montoya, 27, who attended the air show with a friend. “Everybody around was gasping. Everybody was bursting into tears. Everybody was in shock.”

    Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson said the National Transportation Safety Board had taken control of the crash scene with local police and fire providing support.

    “The videos are heartbreaking,” Johnson said on Twitter.

    The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and a Bell P-63 Kingcobra collided and crashed around 1:20 p.m., the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement. The collision occurred during the Commemorative Air Force Wings Over Dallas show.

    Victoria Yeager, the widow of famed Air Force test pilot Chuck Yeager and herself a pilot, was also at the show. She didn’t see the collision, but did see the burning wreckage.

    “It was pulverized,” said Yeager, 64, who lives in Forth Worth.

    “We were just hoping they had all gotten out, but we knew they didn’t,” she said of those on board.

    The B-17, an immense four-engine bomber, was a cornerstone of U.S. air power during World War II and is one of the most celebrated warplanes in U.S. history. The Kingcobra, a U.S. fighter plane, was used mostly by Soviet forces during the war. Most B-17s were scrapped at the end of World War II and only a handful remain today, largely featured at museums and air shows, according to Boeing.

    Several videos posted on social media showed the fighter plane appearing to fly into the bomber, causing them to quickly crash to the ground and setting off a large ball of fire and smoke.

    “It was really horrific to see,” Aubrey Anne Young, 37, of Leander. Texas, who saw the crash. Her children were inside the hangar with their father when it occurred. “I’m still trying to make sense of it.”

    A woman next to Young can be heard crying and screaming hysterically on a video that Young uploaded to her Facebook page.

    Air show safety – particularly with older military aircraft – has been a concern for years. In 2011, 11 people were killed in Reno, Nevada, when a P-51 Mustang crashed into spectators. In 2019, a bomber crashed in Hartford, Connecticut, killing seven people. The NTSB said then that it had investigated 21 accidents since 1982 involving World War II-era bombers, resulting in 23 deaths.

    Wings Over Dallas bills itself as “America’s Premier World War II Airshow,” according to a website advertising the event. The show was scheduled for Nov. 11-13, Veterans Day weekend, and guests were to see more than 40 World War II-era aircrafts. Its Saturday afternoon schedule included flying demonstrations including a “bomber parade” and “fighter escorts” featured the B-17 and P-63.

    Videos of previous Wings Over Dallas events depict vintage warplanes flying low, sometimes in close formation, on simulated strafing or bombing runs. The videos also show the planes performing aerobatic stunts.

    The FAA was also launching an investigation, officials said.

    ———

    Bleed reported from Little Rock, Arkansas

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  • Russian court hears appeal by Griner against 9-year sentence

    Russian court hears appeal by Griner against 9-year sentence

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    MOSCOW — A Russian court on Tuesday started hearing American basketball star Brittney Griner’s appeal against her nine-year prison sentence for drug possession.

    Griner, an eight-time all-star center with the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury and a two-time Olympic gold medalist, was convicted Aug. 4 after police said they found vape canisters containing cannabis oil in her luggage at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport.

    Griner took part in the Moscow Regional Court hearing via video call from a penal colony outside Moscow where she is imprisoned.

    Griner’s February arrest came at a time of heightened tensions between Moscow and Washington, just days before Russia sent troops into Ukraine. At the time, Griner was returning to Russia, where she played during the U.S. league’s offseason.

    Griner admitted she had the canisters in her luggage but testified she inadvertently packed them in haste and had no criminal intent. Her defense team presented written statements saying she had been prescribed cannabis to treat pain.

    The nine-year sentence was close to the maximum of 10 years, and Griner’s lawyers argued after the conviction that the punishment was excessive. They said in similar cases defendants have received an average sentence of about five years, with about a third of them granted parole.

    Before her conviction, the U.S. State Department declared Griner to be “wrongfully detained” — a charge that Russia has sharply rejected.

    Reflecting growing pressure on the Biden administration to do more to bring Griner home, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken took the unusual step of revealing publicly in July that Washington had made a “substantial proposal” to get Griner home, along with Paul Whelan, an American serving a 16-year sentence in Russia for espionage.

    Blinken didn’t elaborate, but The Associated Press and other news organizations have reported that Washington has offered to exchange Griner and Whelan for Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer who is serving a 25-year sentence in the U.S. and once earned the nickname the “merchant of death.”

    The White House said it has not yet received a productive response from Russia to the offer.

    Russian diplomats have refused to comment on the U.S. proposal and urged Washington to discuss the matter in confidential talks, avoiding public statements.

    In September, U.S. President Joe Biden met with Cherelle Griner, the wife of Brittney Griner, as well as the player’s agent, Lindsay Colas. Biden also sat down separately with Elizabeth Whelan, Paul Whelan’s sister.

    The White House said after the meetings that the president stressed to the families his “continued commitment to working through all available avenues to bring Brittney and Paul home safely.”

    The U.S. and Russia carried out a prisoner swap in April. Moscow released U.S. Marines veteran Trevor Reed in exchange for the U.S. releasing a Russian pilot, Konstantin Yaroshenko, who was convicted in a drug trafficking conspiracy.

    Moscow also has pushed for the release of other Russians in U.S. custody.

    One of them is Alexander Vinnik, who was accused of laundering billions of dollars through an illicit cryptocurrency exchange. Vinnik was arrested in Greece in 2017 and extradited to the U.S. in August.

    Vinnik’s French lawyer, Frederic Belot, told Russian newspaper Izvestia last month that his client hoped to be part of a possible swap.

    The newspaper speculated that another possible candidate was Roman Seleznev, the son of a Russian lawmaker. He was sentenced in 2017 to 27 years in prison on charges from a hacking and credit card fraud scheme.

    ———

    Follow AP’s coverage of the Griner case: https://apnews.com/hub/brittney-griner

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  • Women to get more rest between hoop games at next World Cup

    Women to get more rest between hoop games at next World Cup

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    SYDNEY — Players at this year’s World Cup had a few concerns about the competition, including the compact schedule and the timing of the tournament, and the women took their complaints right to the top.

    FIBA Secretary General Andreas Zagklis talked with many of the players during the course of the recently competed tournament. He offered a quick solution for the rest concerns, but changing the date will take more work.

    The next World Cup in 2026 will once again feature 16 teams instead of the 12 at this year’s tournament — and players will have more time to recuperate between the final rounds.

    “We will not play three days in a row, that will not happen again,” Zagklis said. “This is not something we want to see repeated. It’s too heavy on the players.”

    At this year’s tournament, the quarterfinals, semifinals and medal games were played over three straight days. Overall, teams that reached the gold-medal game would have played eight games in 10 days. The 2018 World Cup had a break between the quarters and the medal round.

    While the scheduling change is a welcomed positive step for the players, there’s still the issue of timing. The WNBA tried to work with FIBA by shortening its season. Still, the league’s playoffs continued until the start of the World Cup, forcing about a dozen players to basically travel a few thousand miles, get off a plane and start playing for their national teams.

    Many European leagues tip off soon after the World Cup ends, so it’s difficult to move it to a later start date.

    Zagklis said FIBA will be working with the stakeholders to provide the best possible solution for the players — though indicating the change will likely have to come from the WNBA or the other pro leagues.

    “The World Cup is turning next year 70 years old, the women’s world has been there much before virtually every women’s league in the world and it is the top female competition,” Zagklis. “So the calendar starts again with the World Cup.”

    USA Basketball chairman Martin Dempsey said there is a sense of urgency for FIBA to address the scheduling problem, especially with the WNBA set to expand over the next few years.

    “The time to have that conversation is before it happens, not after,” Dempsey said. “So we really do need to figure out with the ‘W,’ the NBA and FIBA how to keep all of these enterprises viable because we don’t want to run the risk of creating a very diluted World Cup.

    “We’ve got to have a really serious ongoing conversation about how to keep things in sync so that they don’t clash.”

    Five of the U.S. players competed in the WNBA Finals that ended three days before the World Cup started. Chelsea Gray, Kelsey Plum and tournament MVP A’ja Wilson missed the first two games for the U.S.

    Before the scheduling change was announced, players made their positions clear.

    “I don’t know if FIBA gave a damn about anyone,” Plum said.

    “Rest would be a good thing,” Wilson said. “Having some time between would definitely help.”

    The site for the 2026 World Cup hasn’t been announced yet and getting to Australia might have been the most difficult place for everyone because of its location.

    Serbia coach Marina Maljković noticed how tired many players were. She coaches in Turkey in the winter and said players across the leagues need a break.

    “You see a lot of players that lacked freshness. You can see it, any single team going from club season to WNBA, WNBA to national team,” Maljković said. “This year it’s very, very complicated. … Talking to players, they really suffered this season because of the tight schedule everywhere. I guess there will be smart people who will sit around the table and see what we can do about that.”

    Aside from the logistical issues, the World Cup was a huge success in Australia. The total attendance of 145,519 was the highest in the history of the competition. There were nearly 16,000 fans at the gold-medal game between the U.S. and China, which was the largest since the 1953 championship game played in Chile in a stadium that had 35,000 fans.

    “By all metrics, we have seen a tremendous effort by the hosts,” Zagklis said. “Record sales in merchandise, record attendances, fantastic atmosphere in the games, so it’s hard to challenge the conclusion that we’ve been able to experience the best World Cup ever.”

    ———

    More AP women’s basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-basketball and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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  • Russian court sets Brittney Griner appeal date for Oct. 25

    Russian court sets Brittney Griner appeal date for Oct. 25

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    MOSCOW — A Russian court on Monday set Oct. 25 as the date for American basketball star Brittney Griner’s appeal against her nine-year prison sentence for drug possession.

    Griner, an eight-time all-star center with the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury and a two-time Olympic gold medalist, was convicted Aug. 4 after police said they found vape canisters containing cannabis oil in her luggage at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport.

    The Moscow region court said it will hear her appeal.

    Griner admitted that she had the canisters in her luggage, but testified that she had inadvertently packed them in haste and that she had no criminal intent. Her defense team presented written statements that she had been prescribed cannabis to treat pain.

    Her February arrest came at a time of heightened tensions between Moscow and Washington, just days before Russia sent troops into Ukraine. At the time, Griner, recognized as one of the greatest players in WNBA history, was returning to Russia, where she played during the U.S. league’s offseason.

    The nine-year sentence was close to the maximum of 10 years, and Griner’s lawyers argued after the conviction that the punishment was excessive. They said in similar cases defendants have received an average sentence of about five years, with about a third of them granted parole.

    Before her conviction, the U.S. State Department declared Griner to be “wrongfully detained” — a charge that Russia has sharply rejected.

    Reflecting the growing pressure on the Biden administration to do more to bring Griner home, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken took the unusual step of revealing publicly in July that Washington had made a “substantial proposal” to get Griner home, along with Paul Whelan, an American serving a 16-year sentence in Russia for espionage.

    Blinken didn’t elaborate, but The Associated Press and other news organizations have reported that Washington has offered to exchange Griner and Whelan for Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer who is serving a 25-year sentence in the U.S. and once earned the nickname the “merchant of death.”

    The White House said it has not yet received a productive response from Russia to the offer.

    Russian diplomats have refused to comment on the U.S. proposal and urged Washington to discuss the matter in confidential talks, avoiding public statements.

    U.S. President Joe Biden met last month with Cherelle Griner, the wife of Brittney Griner, as well as the player’s agent, Lindsay Colas. Biden also sat down separately with Elizabeth Whelan, Paul Whelan’s sister.

    The White House said after the meetings that the president stressed to the families his “continued commitment to working through all available avenues to bring Brittney and Paul home safely.”

    The Biden administration carried out a prisoner swap in April, with Moscow releasing Marine veteran Trevor Reed in exchange for the U.S. releasing a Russian pilot, Konstantin Yaroshenko, convicted in a drug trafficking conspiracy.

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  • US women win fourth straight gold at World Cup, top China

    US women win fourth straight gold at World Cup, top China

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    SYDNEY — The names on the U.S. team have changed, the Americans’ dominance has not.

    A’ja Wilson scored 19 points, Kelsey Plum added 17 and the United States beat China 83-61 on Saturday to win its fourth consecutive gold medal at the women’s basketball World Cup.

    “It feels great,” said Wilson, who was selected as the tournament’s MVP. “We came here on a mission, we got it. We got gold. Now we’re going home with some hardware. It feels great to us. Australia was great to us. I didn’t see any kangaroos, but it’s OK because we are leaving with a gold.”

    This was one of the most dominant teams in the Americans’ storied history in the World Cup that now has won 11 gold medals. They now have won four straight gold medals for the first-time ever. This was also the biggest win in a gold-medal game, surpassing the 20-point wins that the Americans had done twice.

    “Everybody wants to beat us. Everybody wants what we have and that’s gold medals and victories,” Breanna Stewart said.

    What started with Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi has now been passed down to Wilson and Stewart. With Alyssa Thomas the oldest player at 30, the domination could continue for years to come.

    “It’s been an incredible journey just to continue to lay that foundation down like so many of the greats in front of us have,” Wilson said. “Now it’s our turn to step up and be in that situation.”

    As they’ve done all tournament, the Americans did it on both ends of the court, playing stellar defense as well as using a high-powered offense.

    The U.S. (8-0) finished the World Cup averaging 98.8 points — just short of the mark held by the 1994 team that averaged 99.1. They won by an average of 40.8 points, topping the mark held by the 2010 team.

    The game was a sellout with nearly 16,000 fans — the biggest crowd to attend a women’s World Cup game since the inaugural tournament in 1953 in Chile.

    Led by Li Yueru and Wu Tongtong, China hung around. The Chinese team trailed 33-28 late in the second quarter before the U.S. went on a 10-2 run highlighted by fast-break layups by Stewart and Wilson to extend the advantage to double-digits.

    Jin Weina hit a 3-pointer just before the halftime buzzer to get China back to within 10.

    The U.S. was just too good to let the upset happen, outscoring China 25-14 in the third. The Americans did have one scary moment when Thomas went down after a collision with Li in the lane. She was helped off the court, but returned a few minutes later.

    “It was a tough game as we expected,” Thomas said. “By no means is this game easy. We stuck to it and pulled out a win.”

    China won its first medal since the 1994 World Cup when the team also took the silver and are a rising power in women’s basketball. After the game, the team posed for a photo with their flag and men’s great Yao Ming, who is the president of the Chinese Basketball Association.

    Li finished with 19 points and Wu added 13 before leaving the game in the fourth quarter after her knee gave out driving to the basket. She had to be carried off the court.

    The victory was the 30th in a row in World Cup play for the Americans, who haven’t lost since the 2006 semifinals against Russia. The Soviet Union holds the World Cup record with 56 straight wins from 1959-86. This is only the second time in the Americans’ storied history they’ve reached four consecutive gold medal contests. They also did it from 1979-90, winning three times.

    This U.S. team, which has so many new faces on it, also continued to dominate the paint even without 6-foot-8 Brittney Griner, outscoring its opponents by an average of 55-24.

    These two teams met in pool play and China gave the U.S. its toughest game, losing by 14 points.

    CHAMPIONSHIP PEDIGREE

    Wilson, Chelsea Gray and Plum are part of an incredible group that won a World Cup and WNBA title in the same year. There have been 14 total now.

    WOMEN’S WORLD

    FIBA Secretary General Andreas Zagklis was pleased that half of the officials in the tournament were female and five of the 12 head coaches were women. Both China and the U.S. had women in charge of their teams, marking the second straight time that two female coaches made it to the gold medal game.

    MISSING IN ACTION

    The U.S. was without Kahleah Copper for the second straight game after injuring her left hip in the win over Serbia in the quarterfinals. Copper landed hard on her hip driving to the basket and had to be helped off the court. China was missing its star guard Li Meng, who sat out a second consecutive game with what Chinese media reported as having a fever due to body fatigue.

    ———

    More AP women’s basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-basketball and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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  • Australia wins bronze, Lauren Jackson scores 30 in finale

    Australia wins bronze, Lauren Jackson scores 30 in finale

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    SYDNEY — Lauren Jackson admitted she couldn’t have imagined a better ending to her Hall of Fame career.

    Jackson willed Australia to a win in the bronze medal game at basketball‘s World Cup, scoring 30 points to lead the Opals to a 95-65 win over Canada on Saturday.

    “I could have never dreamed of this,” Jackson said. “I can’t imagine it. I can’t actually articulate how I feel right now. It’s a dream come true. The fact that it’s over, there’s nothing bittersweet. It’s so, so special and I’ve the pleasure doing it here. It’s been perfect.”

    It was a throwback performance for the 41-year-old mom, who came back to the Opals after retiring in 2016 because of injuries. Jackson said on social media Saturday that this would be her final game for Australia and that she was “lucky to have this opportunity to represent Australia and also say goodbye. I didn’t get that chance all those years ago.”

    “To say goodbye this way is just magnificent,” Jackson said. “I couldn’t imagine that.”

    She played in 43 World Cup games in her career, matching Brazil’s Janeth Arcain for most all-time. Jackson won three bronze medals and led the Opals to their lone gold in 2006.

    The U.S. won its fourth straight World Cup gold medal, defeating China 83-61.

    Australia (6-2) was coming off a disappointing last-minute loss to China in the medal round. After a sluggish start, Jackson got the team going scoring nine points in the opening 20 minutes as Australia led 51-43 at the break. Kia Nurse kept Canada in the game with 19 points in the first half. She didn’t score in the second half.

    Jackson then took over scoring 12 of her points in the third quarter when Australia extended the lead to 71-54. Jackson, who had been used sparingly throughout most of the tournament, broke out an array of post moves that were reminiscent of her dominant MVP seasons in the WNBA playing for Seattle.

    Her three-point play with 1:07 left in the third gave Australia a 17-point advantage — its biggest lead of the game to that point.

    Australia coach Sandy Brondello, who played with Jackson on the national team, put Jackson back in with just under 6 minutes left and took her out to a rousing ovation with 2:22 remaining as she hit two free throws to end her night. Jackson received hugs from her teammates, who then lifted her up after the final buzzer.

    “It was a fairytale ending and I couldn’t be more happy for her,” Brondello said.

    Canada (4-3) was looking for its first medal since 1986 when the North American country won the bronze. Even with the loss, the Canadians advanced further than they had in any World Cup in 36 years.

    The teams met in pool play with Australia coming away with a 75-72 win that helped them earn the top seed in the group.

    TIP-INS:

    Jackson became the all-time leading scorer in World Cup medal-round games, surpassing her friend Diana Taurasi’s mark of 63. Jackson finished with 81. … Jackson has now scored over 30 points in a medal game twice — the only player to do it. She had 31 against South Korea in 2002.

    ———

    More AP women’s basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-basketball and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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  • Canada into women’s World Cup semis for 1st time since 1986

    Canada into women’s World Cup semis for 1st time since 1986

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    SYDNEY — No one on Canada’s roster was alive the last time the team won a medal at the women’s World Cup. Now the Canadians are a win away from securing one for the first time since 1986, when they captured the bronze.

    Kia Nurse scored 17 points to lead a balanced Canada team to a 79-60 win over Puerto Rico on Thursday in the quarterfinals.

    “It’s really special,” Nurse said. “It’s been a work in progress for us and we all felt the disappointments. Quarterfinals have been our downfall for a long time and to be able to get over that hump. … I think our country is continuing to get really excited about basketball in the grassroots programs and this is just the start of what we can accomplish.”

    Next up is a matchup Friday with the U.S., which beat Serbia 88-55.

    “It’s always our goal to win a quarterfinal and make it to the semifinals. The medal rounds is where we want to be,” Canada’s Bridget Carleton said.

    The other semifinal will pit China against either Belgium or host Australia. China advanced with an 85-71 win over France. While the medal drought isn’t as long as Canada’s, China hasn’t won one since 1994 when the Asian nation took the silver.

    Canada (5-1) and Puerto Rico were tied 4-4 before the Canadians scored the next 12 points to start a 22-7 burst to close the quarter.

    The lead ballooned to 44-23 at the half. Puerto Rico couldn’t really cut into its deficit in the second half thanks in part to Nurse and the fact that Canada committed only four turnovers the entire game. After spending 11 months recovering from an ACL injury, she saw her first game action in the World Cup. She had her best game of the tournament against Puerto Rico.

    The loss ended a great run for Puerto Rico, which advanced to the quarterfinals for the first time in its history. The players hoped the unprecedented run could bring some joy to the island which is recovering from Hurricane Fiona.

    “The word legacy sums it up,” said Arella Guirantes, who had 19 points to lead Puerto Rico (2-4). “To leave something like that for the youth that’s coming up is bigger than any win or loss that we can have. . . . It means a lot to be a part of the beginning of a legacy. I have no doubt in my mind that we’ll be back and will be better.”

    UNITED STATES 88, SERBIA 55

    Alyssa Thomas had 13 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists to help the U.S. beat Serbia.

    Kelsey Plum scored 17 points and A’ja Wilson added 15 to lead the Americans (6-0), who will face Canada.

    The Americans had run through pool play, winning by 46.2 points per game and hadn’t faced any kind of challenge. Serbia (3-2) wasn’t afraid though, going right at the U.S. The Serbians scored the first basket of the game — marking the first time the Americans trailed in the tournament.

    It was back-and-forth for the first 17 minutes, with the U.S. failing to go on any major run. Then, with 2:59 left in the half and the U.S. up by five, Kahleah Copper drove to the basket and was fouled. She landed hard on her hip and had to be helped off the court by the U.S. training staff. Copper, who has been a sparkplug for the U.S. in her first tournament, didn’t return.

    Plum replaced Cooper and hit the two free throws, starting a 12-0 run to close the half as the Americans led 50-33 at the break. Serbia didn’t challenge that deficit in the second half.

    Yvonne Anderson led Serbia with 14 points.

    CHINA 85, FRANCE 71

    Li Meng scored 23 points and Huang Sijing added 18 to help China top France.

    China (5-1) led 60-58 late in the third quarter before scoring the final six points of the period to extend the advantage to eight. France could only get within five the rest of the way

    China’s run is a big turnaround from 2018 when the team finished sixth.

    “I remember 2018, I know this is a very strong team,” said Chinese center Han Xu, who had 13 points and nine rebounds. “We learned a lot.”

    Marine Fauthoux scored 19 points and Gabby Williams added 17 for France (3-3).

    ———

    More AP women’s basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-basketball and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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