12London - Brasil falls to 0-3 in historic night for the Australians

LONDON -- Move over Lisa Leslie, Lauren Jackson is now the leading scorer in Olympic women's basketball history.

The 6-foot-5 Jackson scored 18 points and surpassed the former U.S. standout while leading Australia to a 67-61 victory over Brazil on Wednesday.

Jackson needed just 10 points entering the game to pass her one-time American rival, who had 488 points while leading the U.S. to four consecutive gold medals from 1996-2008. The London Games are the fourth Olympics for the 31-year-old Australian star.

She broke the record by hitting a free throw with 53 seconds left in the third quarter which gave Australia a 51-40 lead.

Brazil (0-3) couldn't get within four the rest of the way.

The Aussies were coming off a 74-70 overtime loss to France -- their first defeat in the Olympics to a team other than the United States since the 1996 Atlanta Games.

Australia struggled at the beginning and trailed 10-8 before Jackson keyed a 13-2 run by scoring five points. Her lay-in with 7:41 left in the second quarter made it 20-12. Australia extended the lead to 13 at the half.

Brazil rallied behind Karla Costa to come within 45-40, but Suzy Batkovic had five straight points to restore the double-digit lead. Jackson then hit one of two free throws to break Leslie's mark.

Australia couldn't put away Brazil though, which rallied within four on Costa's 3-pointer with 16.3 seconds remaining. That's as close as the Brazilians would come as Jackson hit two free throws a second later to seal the win.

Liz Cambage added 17 points for Australia.

Costa scored 22 points and Erika de Souza added 11 before fouling out to lead Brazil, which used to be a consistent medal contender, winning a silver in 1996 and bronze in 2000. The Brazilians finished fourth in 2004 and 11th in 2008 with the lone victory coming over Belarus.

They could still qualify for the quarterfinals with victories in their final two games over Canada and Britain.

 

Source: AP