2016 FIBA OQT Women Day 6: Belarus claims last ticket to Rio


The cast of the women's basketball tournament at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics is finally complete.

Lindsey Harding scored 17 points while Anastasiya Verameyenka added 11 points and 15 rebounds as Belarus triumphed past Korea, 56-39 in the last game of the 2016 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Nantes, France.

Belarus took the last ticket to the 2016 Rio de Janiero Olympics with the win. It will only be the second time in its women's basketball history that Belarus is participating in the Olympics.

The European side first made the Olympics in 2008 (Beijing). The team also avenged a 66-65 setback at the hands of Korea in the elimination round of the OQT.

Verameyenka scored nine of her 11 points in the first half where Belarus took a 27-16 lead. Harding then went to work in the second half, pouring 15 of her 17 points to keep Korea at bay for the rest of the game.

Korea was limited to only 27 percent shooting, including a miserable 3-for-23 from three-point area. Kim Dan Bi had 11 points, but no other Korean player scored more than six points. Park Ji Su was limited to only two points on 1-for-6 shooting.

Seven of Belarus' 12 players in the OQT have played in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Harding, who started playing for Belarus last year as a naturalized player, will be making her Olympics debut.

12 nations competing in the women's basketball tournament of the 2016 Olympic Games

Direct qualification

Brazil (host), United States (2014 FIBA World Championship for Women winner)

Continental champions

Japan (Asia), Serbia (EuroBasket), Senegal (AfroBasket), Canada (Americas), Australia (Oceania)

Olympic Qualifying Tournament

France, China, Turkey, Spain, Belarus

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