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Rio de Janeiro • Playing in her first Olympics at age 31, Leilani Mitchell did not take long to establish herself as a key member of the Australian women's basketball team.
The former University of Utah point guard scored 18 points Saturday as the Opals rallied in the second half and surged to an 84-66 win over Brazil.
Mitchell added six assists while playing 31 minutes for the Aussies, who trailed 24-14 after the first quarter and 39-35 at halftime. They moved ahead 57-53 after three quarters and opened the fourth period with a 15-5 run to take control against the host country. A crowd of 2,368 filled about half of the Youth Arena in support of the Brazilians, who were led by Iziane Castro with 25 points.
Facing "the home nation on their soil for the first game is always tough, but we grinded it out," said Liz Cambage, who led Australia with 20 points.
The Opals will play Turkey, a 55-39 loser to France in its opening game, on Sunday. The Group A schedule for preliminary play is somewhat compressed, because the Olympic women's quarterfinals begin Aug. 16, one day before the men's quarterfinals.
Australia is considered a strong contender for a medal in these Games, with the USA as the clear favorite for the gold.
Mitchell grew up in eastern Washington as a daughter of an Australian mother, who died in 2009 — shortly after Mitchell's one season at Utah. She was the Mountain West Player of the Year in 2008 after transferring from Idaho as a senior.