2018 Under-17 Women's World Cup Day Six Recap
Destiny beckoned for all the teams at a pivotal time at the Under-17 Women's World Cup, where the fixtures for the final day would be decided. Here is all the action from the penultimate day of play:
Championship Semi-Finals
Australia led by double digits in the first half of the first semi final, but France forced them into too many errors and they outscored the Australians 47-22 in the second half and finished ten points in the lead. Iliana Rupert was the stand-out with 20 points and 14 rebounds for France, as they dispatched the defending champions and made it through to the final.
France vs Australia. Image: FIBA.com
Hungary’s run in the competition came to an overwhelming end at the hands of USA, by a scoreline of 84 points to 39. USA had 62 points in the paint, 57 total rebounds, saw 18 points from Jordan Horston and showed great team play as they walked over Hungary and into the final.
5th-8th Place Classification
Italy opened their game against Latvia with fifteen unanswered points, and behind their big physicality, teamwork and play in the field, they led Latvia from start to finish. The final scored was 86-49 in Italy’s favour.
With forty seconds left, Spain’s Nerea Hermosa Monreal made a layup and drew the foul, and making the subsequent free-throw would be the game-winner for Spain after trailing Japan throughout the second half. Nerea finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds in this one, while her teammate Raquel Carrera Quintana also made a double-double (15 points, 13 rebounds).
9th-12th Place Classification
Mali and New Zealand went all the way to overtime, where a two-point jumper from Aminata Sangare would be the deciding play, helping Mali go on to win 66-64. Later on, Canada ended a close first half with ten unanswered points and went on to lead China for the remainder of the game, by as many as 25 in the game and by 74 points to 59 at the end. Yutong Liu had 26 points for China in the loss.
13th-16th Place Classification
Making the most of their offence, Colombia scored their first win of the tournament, 49-44, over Angola. Alexia Shanice dos Santos Dizeko had 16 points and 12 rebounds for Angola in the loss. Meanwhile, hosts Belarus led for almost all of the way against Argentina, but at the end of a tense final two minutes of play, a last-second three from Sofie Acevedo saw Argentina victorious in this thriller. That final three was part of Acevedo’s 28 points in the game.
The match-ups on the final day will be:
15th Place: Belarus vs Angola
13th Place Game: Argentina vs Colombia
11th Place Game: New Zealand vs China
9th Place Game: Mali vs Canada
7th Place Game: Latvia vs Japan
5th Place Game: Italy vs Spain
3rd Place Game: Australia vs Hungary
Championship Game: France vs USA
Check back tomorrow for our full report of day seven, while full stats, news and features can be found on the official website of the 2018 Under-17 Women's World Cup.
