LONDON, Aug. 3 (Xinhua) -- China lost a crucial game against Turkey by 82-55 on Friday in the preliminary round of the women's basketball competition at the 2012 London Olympic Games here.

The loss dropped China to the third place in Group A, a placing that might be their final position as their final group rivals are the United States.

Turkey (3-1) will next face the winless Croatia (0-3) in the last group game on Sunday. If they finish second in the group, they might take on France or Russia, who will vie for the first placing in Group B.

Australia defeated Russia 70-66 to stay in second place and will possibly meet China in the knock-out stage.

China lost 90-56 to Australia in the Beijing 2008 Games and 91-68 again at the World Championships in 2010.

"I didn't look at the results of the other group. I wanted to win today's game. A victory would put us in a favorable position in the knock-out round and secure at least a sixth-place finishing," China's center Chen Nan said.

"But Turkey did a really good job in defence. They played a physical game. We're overwhelmed in the first half and never recovered."

Turkey made 41 shooting attempts in just 20 minutes and went 35-out-of-72 for the whole game. They buried five 3-pointers to lead as many as 20 points in the first half, which was concluded 39-27.

China never really challenged the opponents in the second half when Turkey scored 23 points on fast-breaks, extending the margin to 28 in that period.

Nevriye Yilmaz led five Turks in double digits with 16 points and eight rebounds. Chen Nan scored 19 points and was the only Chinese player who recorded a double-digit scoring.

"Turkey did good homework and they found out our weak points. I think we were not prepared for the difficulties. We should learn the lesson," said Miao Lijie. Enditem

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