Angola's women's handball team held its own in the first half against The Netherlands on Thursday, but by the end of the match it was clear that the Dutch squad was superior.
The Netherlands leaned on a strong performance from Bo van Wetering, who netted seven goals on seven shots, and Lois Abbingh, who scored six times on eight shots. Angola was paced by Isabel Guialo, who scored eight goals, albeit on 16 shots.
With the win, The Netherlands kept its unbeaten streak alive ahead of a showdown with fellow Group A leader Norway. Angola fell to 0-3 in pool play. MATCH STATS
Norway 35, Montenegro 23: Perennial power Norway struggled in the first half and was tied 13-13 with Montenegro at the break but held its opponent scoreless for a stretch of more than 10 minutes in the second half to remain unbeaten. MATCH STATS
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South Korea 27, Japan 24: Up 13-12 at halftime, South Korea pulled away early in the second half to improve to 1-2 in Group A action, while Japan slipped to 1-2. Ryu Eun-Hee scored nine times for the winners. MATCH STATS
Penalty save leaves Sweden atop Group B
Sweden 28, France 28: Cleopatre Darleux stopped a penalty on the last play of the game as Sweden remained in the Group B lead with a 2-0-1 record. France is in a three-way at 1-1-1 with Brazil and the ROC. MATCH STATS
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ROC 38, Hungary 31: The ROC poured on the offense to jump out to a 14-8 lead within the first 11:30 of the game and never looked back en route to its first win of the Olympics. Daria Dmitrieva, named the best center back while leading Russia to gold in the 2016 Olympics, had seven goals to offset a nine-goal outburst by Hungary's Katrin Klujber. Hungary dropped to 0-3. The ROC is 1-1-1, having tied Brazil earlier in the tournament. MATCH STATS
Spain 27, Brazil 23: Spain (2-1) gradually pulled away from Brazil after a see-saw first half that ended tied at 13. Brazil actually pulled within one goal at 21-20 with just over 13 minutes left, but the Spanish defense held Brazil to three goals the rest of the way, Goalkeeper Silvia Navarro stopped 18 of the 39 shots she faced as Spain overcame a red card to Elisabet Cesario in the 50th minute. Unlike soccer, handball's rules allow a red-carded player to be replaced after the substitute serves a two-minute penalty. Nerea Pena led Spain with seven goals on eight shots. MATCH STATS
SEE MORE: Handball 101: Rules
