2018 Under-17 Women's World Cup Day Two Recap
An action-packed second day of play at the Under-17 Women's World Cup, with winning teams looking to hold on to their records while those not as successful the day before went looking for redemption. A lot on day two did not go as expected, though.
Group B
Italy took an early double-digit lead over China, who then closed the gap and went in front moments into the fourth quarter. With just under six minutes to go in the contest, the points stopped at 57 for China, while Italy went on to finish with 72. Giulia Natali again led all scorers, this time with 21 points, while her teammate Caterina Gilli had 20 points and 13 rebounds for Italy in the win.
With a game-high 18 points, Azzi Fudd contributed the most to the USA's scoreline in the more one-sided group matchup, as they picked up their second dominant win against Mali by a scoreline of 92 points to 39.
Group C
Good hustle in the paint from Hungary, as well as 16 points and 13 rebounds from Aliz Varga, saw them lead New Zealand by 22 points mid-way through. A big contribution from the New Zealand bench - mostly from Tara Manumaleuga, the game’s top scorer with 23 - saw them close the gap to one down the stretch, but continuing to play well from short range helped Hungary see out the win by 68 points to 60.
Argentina led for much of the first half, while Spain were in front throughout the second. Argentina’s Victoria Abril Gauna drew the foul with thirty seconds left and hit both her penalty shots to tie the scores, sending the game into overtime. OT remained close to begin with, but Argentina broke free of Spain with eight unanswered points which helped them complete the victory in overtime, 76-67.
With 17 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists, Florencia Chagas became the first player in U-17 Women's World Cup history to record a triple-double.
Florencia Chagas for Argentina vs Spain. Image: FIBA.com
Group D
Cacia Antonio had a game-high 14 points for Angola, while Canada worked well as a team and put in a big rebounding show, with 54 total boards. Canada started to build on their slender lead as the second half got underway, and in the fourth quarter Angola were limited to just five points as Canada finished 30 points in the lead.
Meanwhile, Shyla Jade Heal had 17 points and 11 rebounds for Australia, who put together scoring bursts while limiting Latvia’s chances, a game plan which saw them finish on top by 60 points to 41.
Group A
With nine threes, hard work on the defensive end and good bench production, France led by a sizeable margin throughout their game against Colombia - by 24 at half time and 43 at the end of the game. Zoe Wadoux led all scorers with 14 points for France, who also saw 11 points and 10 rebounds off the bench from Ewl Guennoc as part of their 78-35 victory.
At the half of the final game of the day, Japan led Belarus by 34 points, and by the end they had double the hosts’ final point total. Maika Miura led all scorers with 19 for Japan, who saw nine threes fall for them and all twelve players contribute to their 104-52 winning margin.
USA, Hungary, France, Australia and Canada all remain unbeaten in the competition - the latter two scheduled to face each other on day three, so not all could keep their record intact. Argentina, Italy and Japan all picked up their first wins of the tournament, which is something five more teams are still looking for.
Play resumes on Tuesday July 24th, until then all information on all games and regular updates can be found on the official website of the tournament.
