To finish one of the top two places in Pool B and be seeded in the draw later on Tuesday, Les Bleues must now hope for a victory for Japan, already eliminated, against Australia, who play at home ( 12:30 p.m.).
They would then be opposed to Belgium or Puerto Rico.
With their qualification already in their pocket after their success against Japan the day before (67-53), they wanted to end the group stage on a high note, take their revenge for the Euro-2021 final (63-54 defeat against the Serbs) and, above all, avoid crossing quarters with Americans or Chinese.
But the Blue did not manage to repeat their performance of the day before, where they had delivered a reference match.
Jean-Aimé Toupane's players lost their footing at the end of each of the second and third quarters (0-11 then 0-7) and trailed throughout the match.
They thought they could snatch a success or an extension by coming back to two points (62-64) fifty seconds from the end, but were then crucified by a three-point basket scored by Sasa Cado, while the Serbs had no more than a second to shoot.
Beyond this end of the match, the Blues again sinned on the rebound (44 taken to 25 for Serbia) and did not manage to limit the influence of the leader of American origin Yvonne Anderson (18 pts), and that of Jovana Nogic.
Iliana Rupert (0 pt) and to a lesser degree Marine Fauthoux (11 pts but 4 out of 13) did not confirm their performance against the Japanese.
© 2022 AFP