The Chinese women basketball team suffered an 89-68 defeat over Spain, shadowing its prospect of advancing with one win against two losses at the Rio Olympics on Wednesday.
Shao Ting scored a team-high 14 points for China, followed by Chen Xiaojia with 11. Torrens Alba of Spain grabbed a game-high 32 points and eight rebounds, while Ndour Astou had 21 and Romero Leticia finished with 16.
"Our top-eight goal won't change. But the challenges ahead are big," said Chinese center Chen Nan. China will play Serbia and the United States in the next two games.
The two teams tied on 14-all before Su Mengran and Chen Xiaojia made two consecutive 3-pointers to help China lead for 24-18. Romero buried a 3-pointer to overtake 41-38 at the break.
Spain surged for a 12-4 run in the third quarter and stunned China 25-9 in the fourth to claim the victory.
In other games, Diana Taurasi scored her Olympic-best 25 points to help the United States beat Serbia 110-84.
Five American players scored in double figures as Breanna Stewart had 17 points, Tina Charles added 15, Angel McCoughtry grabbed 13 and Maya Moore scored 10.
Canada beat Senegal 68-58, clinching a spot in the quarter-finals. Canada led the fourth quarter by 15, but was narrowed to seven with 2:59 to go.
Nurse scored 14 points, Tamara Tatham added 13 points and eight rebounds to lead the Canadians, who joined the USA as the only two teams having a perfect 3-0 record in Group B.
