"Following a good start, we failed to defend quite well at some crucial points. It was something that we paid for in our progress," said Sun Mengran, rating the team's performance at the tournament as "80 to 90 points".

Frenchwoman Sandrine Gruda contributed 16 points. Teammates Marine Johannes and Alexia Chartereau added 11 and 10 respectively.

"I had never thought that we would have started the match so strongly. France are among world top four. They pressed on us quite hard, thus inducing our mistakes afterwards," China's head coach Xu Limin pointed out.

"We didn't give up in the last quarter. Opponents are stronger than us, but we have tried to bridge the gap. That will be more precious than the victory itself," added Xu.

Earlier on Sunday, Canada finished seventh after edging Nigeria 73-72. Despite the loss, Nigeria had already made history, becoming the first African team into the World Cup quarterfinals.

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