Serbia stuns China 77-70, Japan upsets Belgium 86-85 in Olympic women's basketball

Jelena Brooks of Serbia goes for a layup during the women's basketball quarterfinal match against China at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Saitama, Japan, Aug. 4, 2021. (Xinhua/Pan Yulong)

Serbia edged China to encounter the U.S. in the semifinal while Japan reached the Olympic semifinals for the first time.

TOKYO, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- Serbia stunned China 77-70 to enter the women's basketball semifinals at the Tokyo Olympics on Wednesday, while Rui Machida hit a 3-pointer with 16 seconds to go to help Japan upset Belgium 86-85.

Serbia will face the United States, which thrashed Australia 79-55, in Friday's semifinals, while Japan will take on France.

Jelena Brooks scored 18 points, Sonja Vasic made 16 and Ana Dabovic added 13 for Serbia, which forced out 23 turnovers for the win.

The margin of the first half was two points, 45-43 in favor of Serbia, but China used a 10-2 run to end the third quarter 58-49.

A 12-0 run from Serbia turned the tables around in the fourth quarter before center Han Xu made a lay-up 5:54 minutes left for China's first score in the period, but Serbia regained the lead by 74-70 with 28.4 seconds to go.

Emma Meesseman, who scored 25 points, made two free-throws to give Belgium an 85-83 lead with 37 seconds left on the clock. Machida's 3-pointer left Belgium no place and Kim Mestdagh missed the last shot.

Jana Raman (top) of Belgium competes during the women's basketball quarterfinal against Japan at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Saitama, Japan, Aug. 4, 2021. (Xinhua/Pan Yulong)

This is the first time for Japan to reach the semifinals of the Olympic women's basketball competition. Their previous best result was 5th.

Trailing 70-61 at the start of the 4th quarter, the hosts tied it 72-72 with an 11-2 run and never let Belgium take real control of the game until the last moment.

Yuki Miyazawa led the Japanese with 21 points and Machida delivered 14 assists besides her game-winning shot.

Breanna Stewart scored 23 points to lead the U.S. for a comfortable lead from the first quarter, and the seven-time defending champion then never looked back.

Marine Johannes' jumper with 23 seconds to go put France ahead for good as France beat Spain 67-64 to book the last berth in the semis.

Maite Cazorla made a quick basket six seconds later to close it on 65-64, but Spain had to foul to send the Frenchwomen onto the line. France buried half of the following four free-throws, which were enough for the win.