Point guard Dumerc shines as France’s women cagers roar back to life

THE Frenchwomen’s basketball team roared back from an 11-point deficit in the fourth quarter to overtake the Czech Republic 71-68 on Tuesday, advancing to the semi-finals of the Olympic tournament.

Led by the inspirational play of point guard Celine Dumerc, France came back after trailing 55-44, taking a 67-65 lead they would not relinquish on a three-pointer by Dumerc with a minute to play and stayed alive in their hunt for an Olympic medal.

“We beat a really, really good team,” said France coach Pierre Vincent. “I don’t know where we found the energy and the confidence to come back in this game. I don’t know. Ask Celine.”

Dumerc, sitting next to her coach at the news conference, said she and her team-mates just dug deep.

“We had to keep our mind focused on what we had to do andwe found a way to score a basket. I don’t know where we found the energy and I’m really, really proud of my team.”

Dumerc finished with 23 points to lead France. Eva Viteckova scored 17 points as top scorer for the Czechs.

France, who had gone 5-0 in preliminary play, face a final four showdown against Russia, who edged Turkey 66-63.

Four-time defending champions United States will play Australia in the other semi-final today.

The Americans beat Canada 91-48 to extend their Olympic winning streak to 39 in a row, and Australia were 75-60 winners against China.

The Czechs had used a brilliant scoring burst from Viteckova to take a 51-41 lead after three quarters. Viteckova, held scoreless in the first half, accounted for 13 points in the quarter.

After Dumerc led France back, she was able to run the final seconds off the clock, and just before the buzzer threw the ball high in the air and hugged her team-mates, all of whom then collapsed to the floor in a group celebration. france’s turnaround began within tensified defensive pressure that finally cooled off the Czechs’ hot shooting.

The 1.69m (5-foot-6) Dumerc, 30, said she appealed to her team-mates.

“Just keep running, keep fighting, keep believing inwhat you are doing,” the charismatic player said.

“I said to my team-mates, ‘we don’t want to be crying at the end’.”