Serbia beats China 80-72; 1st Olympic win in women's hoops

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) Ana Dabovic scored 23 points, and Serbia beat China 80-72 Friday in a game the Serbians had to win to have a chance at advancing to the medal round.

Sonja Petrovic added 20 points for Serbia (1-3), which lost its first two games by a combined 10 points and lost by 26 to the U.S. Serbia needs to beat Senegal on Sunday to advance in its Olympic debut; China plays the U.S.

Vlade Divac, president of Serbia's Olympic comittee and general manager of the NBA's Sacramento Kings, sat on the front row for women's historic win.

Dabovic scored 17 points helping Serbia take control early. China (1-3) last led 34-32 with 2:34 left on a three-point play by Wen Lu.

Serbia answered with eight straight in leading 40-34 at halftime and outscored China 26-9 in the third, giving Divac and fans plenty to celebrate.

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AP Summer Games website: http://summergames.ap.org/