Who says nobody cares about fifth place?
Obviously Olga Vigil does. The 5-8, 143-pound Cuban guard was called for a second half charge after a defensive stand by 5-9, 155-pound Irina Sumnikova, a 31-year-old Russian veteran. Vigil then got into it with Yevgeniya Nikonova -- and after they were separated, blindsided Sumnikova with a hard right hand.
Sumnikova went down, but continued to play. After the game, though, she was still suffering aftereffects of the sucker punch, but she could take comfort in the fact that Vigil's unsportsmanlike display not only got the Cuban ejected from the game, but started the slide that resulted in a 91-74 Russian win.
And the Australians definitely cared about the bronze medal game, as they celebrated a tough 66-56 win over the Ukraine Sunday with a long group hug and emotional mingling with their fans from the other side of the world.
The other games lacked such made-to-order highlights, but Canada finally held a lead, and got a win, and Japan continued its impressive run through the tournament with an 81-69 win over Italy.
Australia (5-3) 66, Ukraine (4-4) 56: Unsung center Michelle Brogan scored 19 points and hauled down 12 rebounds as the Australians dominated Ukraine -- a team that had beaten them by six in pool play.
It was a good thing Brogan stepped up, as star guard Michelle Timms made just one basket -- though she did have four steals and four assists. Reserve guard Sandy Brondello, who played a big role in the overtime win over Russia that got Australia to the semifinals, found the spotlight again with 13 points.
The Ukrainians trailed by nine at half, and could just never get close enough to make a serious run at the bronze. Their star guard, Maria Tkachenko, continued her Olympic struggles with a two-of-10 shooting performance and just seven points. Yelena Zhirko had 16 points and nine rebounds, but she was just six-of-18 from the field as Australia's relentless style of play wore down the surprising Ukrainians.
Russia (6-2) 91, Cuba (3-5) 74: It was 59-55 Russia with 10:07 left when Vigil went off, and the immediate impact was six straight Russian free throws (they made four) and it was quickly 66-55 30 seconds later.
After the Cubans battled back to within two at 72-70, they ran out of gas, and the Russians coasted home.
Aside from the scuffle (and there were many hard looks and confrontations throughout the game), the fifth-place battle showcased two of the best big people in the Olympics. Yelena Baranova had 20 points and eight rebounds, slightly below her Olympic average, and Yamilet Martinez contributed 19 points and 11 rebounds in the losing cause.
Japan (4-4) 81, Italy (4-4) 69: The Japanese have been alternately pitied and taken advantage of because they have no players taller than six feet. Against Italy, though, size magically didn't matter. Japan amazingly outrebounded the Italians 40-25, including a 14-8 edge on the offensive boards as they filled the gap left by the absence of 6-7 Italian Guiseppina Tufano.
It didn't hurt that the Japanese also made eight-of-24 shots from beyond the three-point arc while the Italians had trouble shooting from any distance.
Mikiko Hagiwara continued her fine play with 21 points and nine rebounds for the seventh place Japanese, while Takako Kato added 16 points and seven rebounds.
Elena Paparazzo had 19 points in 14 minutes for Italy and Catarina Pollini had 15 points and six rebounds for the Italians, who were hoping for better than eighth when they arrived.
China (2-6) 85, Korea (3-5) 71: Six-eight Zheng Hiaxia finished the Olympics on a roll, adding a 29-point, 10-rebound effort to her resume against undersized Korea.
The Koreans made a game of it behind Chun Joo-Weon, who hit three-of-four three-pointers en route to 20 points, and cut the margin to five with six minutes left. But then Liu Jun hit a three for a quarter of her 12 points and China pulled away to claim ninth place.
But the 1992 silver medalists expected to be playing Sunday, at least in the bronze medal game, instead of early on Saturday in an afterthought.
Canada (1-7) 88, Zaire (0-8) 46: Canada lost more leads in this Olympic Games than a blundering police department, but this once, they held on. The Canadians stormed to a 21-2 margin out of the chute and refused to let their only win slip away.
The Canadians too had to be disappointed, after battling the United States on even terms during a pre-Olympic exhibition tour, but poor shooting and the inability to hold a lead forced them to settle for eleventh.
It was fitting that 36-year-old Bev Smith should lead the way in this redemptive effort, scoring 21 points and handing out three assists to salvage something for the Canadians from this bitter Atlanta experience. Dianne Norman had 20 on 10-of-12 shootings to go along with 10 rebounds, three assists and two steals. Andrea Blackwell, who had a good showing at the Olympics, had 11 points.
Mabika Mwadi had a disappointing finish, scoring just two points, for the Zairois, who lost by an average of 33 points -- a number even more remarkable since they only lost their opener by 16 to the surprisingly strong Ukrainians.
But no one really expected Zaire to do much, as the country does not contain an indoor court and the sport is not in favor among the the nation's elite. Still, they had their moments, and Lukengu Ngalula's 12 points and Muene Thsijuka's 11 (with nine rebounds) topped their final outing.
