Australia and Spain prevail: FIBA U-19 World Championship for Women Roundup July 23, 2011
Australia 67 – France 45
In a Group-C game on Saturday, Australia crushed France 67-45. Australia shot 40percent of their field goals in comparison to France’s 25 percent. Rebecca Cole led Australia with a game-high 18 points and fell just one assist short
to achieve a double-double. She also had two rebounds and two steals in the game.
Cole shot 66.7 percent from the field and 71.4 percent from the free throw line, during 28 minutes of action. Tayla Roberts had 11and Sara Blicavs added 10 points for Australia.
Valeriane Ayayi led France with 13 points. She stayed on the court for 30 minutes during which she shot a meagre 30.8 percent from the field and 50 percent from behind the arc. Besides Ayayi, none of the French player made it into
the double-digit mark.
Australians were in their zone early and took a 17-10 lead at the end of the first half. The one way traffic continued in the second quarter as well as the Aussies kept driving towards the French post. The fragile defence of France
failed to limit the offensive onslaught of the Aussies, who went into the halftime break with a 37-21 lead.
The French team failed to come to terms with the pace of the Australian team in the second half as well and succumbed to a 22-point defeat.
Spain 75 – Slovenia 58
In a Group-D game on Saturday, Spain outplayed their European rivals Slovenia 75-58. The Spanish team outclassed Slovenia with their long-range shooting. They hit 41.7 percent of their shots from downtown as compared to just 13.3
from Slovenia.
Queralt Casas was the top scorer of Spain. She racked up 20 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals in 34 minutes of action. Casas went 9 of 15 from field including 2of 4 from beyond the arc. Marina Delgado chipped
in with 15 points while Astou Ndour also added 14 points for the Spanish team.
Centre Tjasa Gortnar single handedly carried the entire offensive burden on her shoulders and finished as the only Slovenian player, who reached the double-figures. Gortnar punched a game-high 21 points together with nine rebounds.
She played for 37 minutes and went 9 of 15 from the field.
The game generally hung in balance early with neither team allowing other to pull away. However, it was Spanish team that held their composure and burst through the defences of Slovenia. Spain captured the lead midway through the
frame and maintained it till the end of the first quarter.
Spain led Slovenia by 22-19 going into the second quarter. Spain tallied 16 in the next stanza as compared to a Slovenia’s 12 went to the locker room with a 38-31 advantage. The third quarter was again a closely fought period,
but Spain managed to increase their lead to 11. Things didn’t change much in the fourth as Spain raced onto a 17 point win.
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