The neck-to-neck contention continued as both sides missed several attacks afterwards. Captain Shao Ting converted all of four free throws in the final one and a half minutes to keep China 75-71 ahead with 21.7 seconds from time. The ensuing steal from Huang Sijing proved pivotal to China's win.

For coach Xu, the Chinese players felt much less burden than their opponents, which proved quite important when the team came back into contention.

Kia Nurse had 18 points for Canada. Teammates Achonwa and Jamie Scott added 13 and 10 respectively.

China will compete with France for the fifth place. The world No. 3 France reacted strongly to their quarterfinal loss with an 84-62 rout of Nigeria in an earlier match.

"First of all, we should have the desire to win. We need to display our character and spirit in the match," Xu pointed out.

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