Leilani Mitchell Gives Great Effort Off Bench In Australia’s Loss To China
Jul 30, 2021, 7:56 AM
Leilani Mitchell #5 of Team Australia drives past Siyu Wang #5 of Team China during the second half of a Women's Basketball Preliminary Round Group C game on day seven of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Saitama Super Arena on July 30, 2021 in Saitama, Japan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
(Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Former Ute Leilani Mitchell gave great effort off the bench as the Australian Women’s Basketball team lost to China 76-74.
Leilani Mitchell had a big first quarter, dropping eight points on 2-for-3 shooting from the three-point line in nearly seven minutes. Not much happened in the second quarter as she played around 90 seconds.
The game was tied at 38 heading to halftime but China came out with 9-2 run to take 47-40 lead just over two minutes into the second half.
FT:
A nail biter in the end, but China too good in the dying seconds.
What a fight 💔💔#Tokyo2020 #Basketball pic.twitter.com/ad0pGc1tZB
— Basketball Australia (@BasketballAus) July 30, 2021
China had a double digit lead in the fourth quarter before the Opals made a massive run to pull within one point with 10 seconds left. The Chinese women’s basketball team knocked down two free throws to extend their lead to 74-71. Ohea hit a big three-pointer to tie the game at 74 with 2.1 seconds left.
Australia committed a foul in the pain on the inbounds pass before time expired. China made both free throws and escaped with the win.
Mitchell finished with nine points on 2-of-6 shooting from the field, including 2-for-4 from beyond the arc to go with her one rebound and three assists in 19 minutes.
Australia will next be in action on Monday, August 2 at 6 a.m. MDT.
Click here for KSL Sports’ exclusive coverage of the Games.
Trevor Allen is a Utah Utes Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Crimson Corner podcast. Follow him on Twitter: @TrevorASports. You can download and listen to the podcast, here.
