2018 Under-17 Women's World Cup Day Five Recap
It was quarter finals day at the Under-17 Women's World Cup, where the eight teams contesting took another step closer to the title. Here's all the action from day five, as it happened:
Championship Bracket
Hungary vs Japan at the 2018 Under-17 Women's World Cup. Image: FIBA.com
Big on the defensive boards and scoring big from close range, Australia led Italy from start to finish. Shyla Jade Heal led all scorers with 19 points and Nnenna Emma-Nnopu had a double-double for Australia who reached the semi finals with a twenty-point win over Italy. Also leading from start to finish was France, who started with 12 unanswered points and held Latvia to long scoreless stretches. They will meat Australia in the next round after a 67-43 win over Latvia.
USA were on the warpath against Spain, thought it was a more low-scoring effort for the team that has so far been so dominant. Zia Cooke was once again the spark off the USA bench with 14 points, while Spain missed all eight of their three-point attempts, as their run in the competition comes to an end with a 66-31 defeat to the USA.
With eleven lead changes, Japan and Hungary were evenly-matched throughout three quarters, but in the fourth, Hungary finally broke away. Barbara Angyal had a game-high 18 points for Hungary, who book their semi-final place with a final result of 74-62 over Japan.
Consolation Bracket
China scored 57% from the field, scored 60 points in the paint and saw a game-high 21 from Yutong Liu as they dominated Angola, 97-41. Meanwhile, against Colombia, Canada started to run away with the game after a tight first quarter against, even with 20 points from Maria Camila Alvarez Montez. Canada eventually won 71-51.
Mali and New Zealand both got their first win of the competition. Mali’s was an unexpected 63-48 win over Argentina, in which they made 17 steals and score 32 points off of turnovers and Sika Kone put up 23 points and 17 rebounds. New Zealand, meanwhile, took down hosts Belarus in the second half with Tara Manumaleuga putting up 19 points off the bench as part of their 73-59 victory.
France and Australia will now meet in the first semi final, while Hungary will face the USA in the other. Latvia, Italy, Spain and Japan will now contest fifth place; Mali, New Zealand, China and Canada enter the ninth-to-twelfth place bracket; and Angola, Colombia, Argentina and Belarus will be seeking a consolatory thirteenth place.
With play resuming tomorrow, full stats on all games as well as news and features are all available on the official website of the 2018 Under-17 Women's World Cup.
