Hortencia Down, but Brazil Not Out

Injured guard Hortencia Oliva watched from the bench because of a sprained ankle as teammate Janeth Arcain scored 26 points and led Brazil past China, 98-83. China fell to 1-3.

In a matchup of the 1994 world championship finalists, Brazil (4-0) jumped to a 15-4 lead in the first 3 1/2 minutes and was in control the rest of the way. The Brazilians led, 51-38, at halftime and were up by as many as 19 points in the second half.

Brazil is the only unbeaten team in its pool but needs to beat Italy (3-1) in its final preliminary game Monday to finish first in the grouping. Japan (1-3) needs to beat Canada in its final preliminary game Monday to stay in the chase for the medal round.

In other games, Russia (3-1) eliminated Canada (0-4) from advancing with a 68-49 victory, Ukraine (2-2) downed Cuba (1-3), 87-75, and South Korea (2-2) routed Zaire (0-4), 95-71. Cuba can still reach the quarterfinals with a victory over Zaire in its final preliminary game--as long as South Korea doesn’t upset the U.S. team.