World champions Australia and European titlists Russia will play for top position in Group A following their win over Latvia and Brazil respectively Friday at the Olympic women's basketball competition in Beijing.

China brushed aside Mali 69-48 to move closer to a second-place finish in Group B and will play against the Czech Republic (2-2), who beat New Zealand 90-59 earlier Monday, in the last preliminary round game on Sunday.

Miao Lijie scored a game-high 25 points including 15 from 3- pointer range for China.

The game was never close and was effectively over when the host China jumped out to a 17-6 lead after the tip-off.

Mali, without its best player and team captain Hamchetou Maiga for injury, struggled at both ends of the court to contain the larger and more experienced Chinese players, committing 21 turnovers, shooting at only 28 percent from the field.

The United States blow out Spain 93-55 and secured their top position in Group B with a best 4-0 record. They will meet New Zealand (1-3) in last preliminary game Sunday.

The defending champions took control early with a 19-4 lead but were closed to 34-37 before a 39-34 halftime advantage.

With defense being much tightened, the white, red and blue regained control on a 23-10 third quarter spurt to seal the victory.

Russia, world runnerup, earned their fourth consecutive victory after another comeback win over Brazil, 74-54.

Trailing 56-54 to enter the decisive fourth quarter, Russia turned the table around with a 20-8 run to keep a 4-0 record while Brazil were out of contention of the quarterfinals with a 0-4 record.

Tatiana Shchegoleva had 12 points and six rebounds for Russia, which will face Australia (4-0) for a first-place finish in Sunday' s game.

Earlier Friday, Australia thumped Latvia, 96-73, backed by center Lauren Jackson's game-high 30 points, Zuzy Batkovic's 18 and 11 points and 11 rebounds from Penny Taylor.

Belarus overcame a 2-11 down early to cruised past South Korea 63-53 in Group A, keeping its quarterfinals berth alive with a 2-2 win-loss.

South Korea traliled 28-33 at break and as many as 48-61 with 3:02 minutes remaining before drawing the deficit to the final margin.

Belarus, who was an Olympic debut, meets win-less Brazil while South Korea (1-3) faces Latvia (1-3) on Sunday.

(Xinhua News Agency August 15, 2008)