Asami Yoshida and Ramu Tokashiki combined for 37 points, leading Japan to a 79-71 victory over France in the final game of Pool A in the women's basketball tournament at the Rio Olympics on Saturday.
Coach Tomohide Utsumi's squad, which had already booked its spot in the quarterfinals, ran France ragged for four quarters, but needed to win big to finish third in the pool.
Japan, which finished the preliminary round with the same 3-2 record and number of competition points as world No. 4 France and Turkey, finished fourth based on a points calculation. The two-time defending Asian champion will now face the United States, the seven-time gold medalist which is ranked first in Pool B, in its quarterfinal game on Tuesday.