VILLENEUVE-D'ASCQ, France — Maria Araujo hit a 3-pointer with 3:06 left in overtime as Spain finished off a rally and beat China 90-89 on Sunday to open women's basketball group play at the Paris Olympics with a flourish.
Queralt Casas tossed the ball into the air as the buzzer sounded after Li Yueru scored inside with 4 seconds left for the final margin, then the Spaniards came together for a giant hug jumping up and down to celebrate knocking off the world's No. 2-ranked team.
Alba Torrens, Spain's captain, called it an ''amazing victory.''
''We didn't stop believing, we didn't stop working, we didn't stop adjusting,'' she said.
Spain had a chance to win in the final seconds of regulation. Leonor Rodriguez was knocked to the floor on her tying 3-pointer with 6.5 seconds to go only to see her free throw rim out leaving the score tied at 76.
China's long heave hit the backboard at the buzzer. China plays Serbia on Wednesday.
Spain took the lead to start overtime on a bucket by Megan Gustafson, and Rodriguez had a final chance to put the game away. She missed her first free throw with 13.2 seconds to go, then sank the second to make it 90-87.
Gustafson, the AP women's college basketball player of the year in 2019 from Iowa, led Spain with 29 points. Rodriguez finished with 25 as the fourth-ranked Spaniards try to bounce back after finishing sixth at the Tokyo Games. Spain lost to the United States in the final at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games.
