2018 Under-17 Women's World Cup Day Three Recap
All the action, as it happened, on the last day of the group stage at this year's Under-17 Women's World Cup, as every team looked to give themselves the best possible chance in the knockout stage.
Group C
A good start from New Zealand saw them lead by 13 in the first half, but Argentina started the second half with ten unanswered points and stayed ahead with their consistent scoring in the low post. Sofia Acevdeo had 21 points off the bench for Argentina in their eight-point win.
Spain led for much of their high-pressure match-up against Hungary, who closed the gap down the stretch. The lead changed hands nine times in the last two minutes, and Franka Toth’s two-point jumper in the final minute would be the game-winner for Hungary. Winning here by a single point, Hungary also finish top of the group.
Spain vs Hungary. Image: FIBA.com
Group D
After a tight first quarter against Angola, Latvia stepped up their defence and long-range shooting - they had 13 threes in the game - to give themselves control of the game. Laura Meldere had a great game on defence and Ketija Vihmane led all scorers with 17 points for Latvia as they end the group with a win, 68-47.
Lily Scanlon was the spark plug off the Australian bench, scoring 22 points against Canada. Australia topped the group with a dominant win over the Canadians, leading by as much as twenty points, scoring two thirds of their points in the paint and finishing ahead by sixteen points.
Group B
USA had the biggest win yet of the tournament against China, dominating in the field, playing hard defence and and seeing 18 points and 8 assists from Jordan Horston as part of their 57-point win.
Mali saw an amazing performance from Aminata Sangare, who had 20 points and 18 rebounds against Italy, who once again saw big numbers from Giulia Natali. With both teams evenly matched on both ends of the floor, the result came down to the Italians outscoring the Malians 10-2 in the last three minutes, which helped them to win the game by 74 points to 63.
Group A
Belarus did all they could on defence, but they couldn’t contain France’s ball movement and play from close-range, where half their points came from. France close out the group stage unbeaten with a final comfortable win, 64-34, over the host nation.
Japan stayed in control of Colombia behind good work throughout from their front court duo of Sakura Noguchi and Misa Hasaki, who had 31 points between them as Japan secured second place in the group with a twenty-point victory over the South Americans.
After these results, the bracket for the remainder of the tournament is set:
France (A1) vs Mali (B4)
Argentina (C2) vs Latvia (D3)
Belarus (A3) vs Italy (B2)
New Zealand (C4) vs Australia (D1)
Japan (A2) vs China (B3)
Hungary (C1) vs Angola (D4)
Colombia (A4) vs USA (B1)
Spain (C3) vs Canada (D2)
The knockout stage begins with the round of sixteen, which begins the next day. For more on the tournament and full stats on every game, visit the official website of the 2018 Under-17 Women's World Cup.
