BERLIN, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- Han Xu had 21 points and 11 rebounds as China survived a tense finish to defeat Puerto Rico 75-72, while Australia edged Italy 82-80 to reach the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup quarterfinals on Wednesday.
China will face France on Thursday after emerging from a contest featuring 22 lead changes and decided only in the closing minutes.
Puerto Rico pulled level at 66-66 through Pamela Rosado with 3:38 remaining, but Han answered with a step-back three-pointer 42 seconds later. China had a 6-0 run to move ahead 72-66 with 1:40 left, establishing its largest lead of the game.
Han shot 9-of-18 from the field, including 3-of-7 from beyond the arc, while Yang Shuyu added 15 points and a game-high 11 assists. Zhang Ziyu provided 13 points in just over nine minutes off the bench.
Trinity San Antonio led Puerto Rico with 24 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and five steals. Puerto Rico had briefly taken its largest lead at 55-52 early in the fourth quarter before China regained control to secure its place in the last eight.
In Wednesday's other qualification game, Isobel Borlase scored 30 points as Australia set up a quarterfinal against Spain.
Borlase shot 7-of-13 from the field and converted 14 of 16 free throws, while Zitina Aokuso added 15 points on 6-of-6 shooting from the field. Steph Talbot contributed 14 points, nine rebounds and five assists as Australia shot 51 percent overall.
Costanza Verona led Italy with 23 points, while Vittoria Blasigh added 13 and Olbis Andre had 11.
Thursday's quarterfinals will also see the United States face Hungary and hosts Germany take on Belgium.
