Women’s World Cup basketball: Australia defeated by China in semi-final, USA storm into final
Australia will play for bronze at the Women’s World Cup after squandering two late chances to clinch what would have been a famous semi-final win over China.
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The Australian Opals will playoff for a World Cup bronze medal against Canada after suffering a heartbreaking 61-59 semi-final loss to a physically formidable China side.
The Opals must quickly regroup from the disappointment of dropping a semi to the Chinese with the Canadians waiting.
Superstar Canada guard Kia Nurse declared her side is ready to avenge their 75-72 loss to the Australians in the pool rounds.
“I don’t think we’re afraid of anybody,” said Nurse, who knows plenty about Australia having won two WNBL championships with the Canberra Capitals and the only import to win a WNBL MVP.
“It was a really good game (against Australia). We will go back and look at the film and see what worked and what didn’t.”
The Opals were brave, but they couldn’t match China’s size and speed.
After trailing by as many as eight points, Australia surged back to lock the scores at 51-all with five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
The Opals had a chance to seal a remarkable win in the closing stages, but centre Cayla George couldn’t convert.
This opened the door for China, and they didn’t disappoint, dropping two clutch free-throws with 3.4 seconds left to break Australia’s hearts.
Guard Sami Whitcomb led the way for the Opals with a team-high 15 points.
Centre Ezi Magbegor and guard Steph Talbot both added 12 points while George had 10 points.
Magbegor was shattered post-game after missing a match-winning layup on the buzzer but did her best to look forward to the bronze medal game against Canada from 1pm (AEST) on Saturday.
“It’s not the result that we wanted, but we still have a job to do,” Magbegor said.
“There is still a medal to win, so we’ll set our focus on that.”
It felt like a China home game with a sizeable portion of the bumper Sydney Superdome crowd cheering for the Chinese.
This passion came across during the national anthem while the chanting from the Chinese fans during the game was deafening.
China is now guaranteed to win their first major international medal since the 1994 World Cup in Australia when they collected bronze.
It won’t be easy against the might of Team USA.
The Americans have won eight of the last 11 World Cups
Team USA is also looking to secure a fourth consecutive World Cup crown while a win in the final will see them record a 30-game Cup winning streak.
China, though, will give it a crack with many experts hailing the 2022 team as the greatest in the country’s history.
Brave Bec back, but hampered:
Star Opals forward Bec Allen played her most significant minutes since copping a hit to the ribs during a pool round win over Serbia.
Allen didn’t score in her 13 minutes on the floor, and she wasn’t herself.
She looked hampered by her rib injury when shooting but used her smarts to turn facilitator for the Opals.
Allen earlier warmed up with the team prior to the semi-final and entered the game with four minutes remaining in the first quarter.
She had bravely attempted to play against Belgium in the quarter final, but only lasted two minutes.
Thankfully for Allen, and the Opals, the New York Liberty WNBA star tried her best to play despite being below her best on the offensive end.
The Opals went toe-to-toe with a physically imposing China side in the opening quarter.
Talbot and Whitcomb set the tone for the Australians with six and five first-quarter points respectively to help the Opals take a slender 17-13 advantage to the first break.
Whitcomb attempted to carry the Australians on her back in the second quarter with her pinpoint shooting from range, but she needed help.
China took control on the back of their physicality in defence in the second to open a six-point advantage at the main break.
The Opals refused to go away and in true Aussie fashion fought back, but it wasn’t enough as China edged them out in a World Cup classic.
USA CLASS ABOVE IN SEMI-FINAL DRUBBING
Megan Hustwaite
Powerhouse USA will chase a fourth straight FIBA Women’s World cup gold medal on Saturday after brushing aside semi-final opponent Canada, 83-43.
The Americans went on a 15-0 run to start the semi-final, establishing an early lead they’d never relinquish on the way to notching their 29th straight World Cup victory.
A’ja Wilson (15 points, 12 rebounds) said her nation has its eye on the main prize.
“We’ve got one more game, this is a business trip for us and we came here to take care of business,” she said.
“I think we’ve got more cohesive over the last few games. We’re talented as a whole but when it comes to chemistry and the cohesiveness of our team, it’s really come together and I think we’ve got better in that area.”
Captain Breanna Stewart (17 points, eight rebounds, three assists, three blocks), Wilson, Kelsey Plum (14 points) and Alyssa Thomas (10 points) monstered the Canadians while Chelsea Gray had more assists (8) than the opposition (5).
With an eye on the gold medal game, coach Cheryl Reeve sat half way through the third term.
Sabrina Ionescu, with a rare opportunity to hit the floor, sunk a triple on the buzzer to extend the three-quarter time lead to 38 points before both teams sat their starters for the last quarter.
The USA were without forward Kayleah Copper who sat out with a hip complaint and remains in doubt for the gold medal game.
This was not only Canada’s lowest score of the tournament but their flattest performance.
Nirra Fields, dominant against the Opals during the week, missed her first eight shots before making her first basket midway through the third.
Canada, with just two defeats to its name in Sydney, will now contest Saturday afternoon’s bronze medal game.
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BY GEORGE
Just like she did in the final pool game against Japan on Tuesday night, Cayla George checked into the game and added an immediate spark.
The dual Olympian and 2018 World Cup silver medallist was in everything.
She top scored with a game-high 19 points which she teamed with nine boards, two assists and one steal.
In just under 23 valuable minutes, George got stops and scored consecutive buckets to break what was a stalemate early in the third quarter.
BRIGHT START
Finally! The Opals have had some sluggish starts during the tournament, winless Mali even got the jump on them on night two.
But on a do-or-die Quarter Final night, Australia produced its best start, tallying 26 points to establish an early double-digit buffer at the first break.
It was arguably the most promising sign of the night as Australia will need fast and strong starts against China in Friday night’s semi-final and when a place on the podium is up for grabs on Saturday.
SUPER SUBS
A week ago, Marianna Tolo (13 points, six rebounds, two assists) and Sara Blicavs (12 points, nine rebounds) began the tournament’s opening game against France on the bench.
Fast forward and the duo, now in the starting five for contrasting reasons, combined for 14-first quarter points and gave the Opals a big presence inside early.
Tolo, who forced her way into the line-up with outstanding, tough form and has started in the past four games, scored Australia’s first points in a sign of what was to come for the home nation.
Blicavs has been stepping up for the injured Bec Allen over the past few nights and done a stellar job.
The lively forward produced some early highlights getting to the basket, was busy on the offensive glass and brought energy to a team which will be feeling the impact of six gruelling games in eight days.
BEC’S BACK
You could almost hear a sign of relief go around the stadium when the Opals ran out to warm up pre-game and star forward Bec Allen was part of the group.
After top scoring with 16 points, Allen was crunched in the dying minutes of Sunday’s gutsy win over Serbia and taken from the stadium in a wheelchair. She was cleared of structural damage the following day but sat out Australia’s past two games, wins over Canada and Japan.
She played just two minutes game time and was put on ice with two games to come for the Aussies, a semi-final and medal game.
CHINA AWAITS
With its only loss of the tournament coming to fellow Pool A opponent, undefeated USA, China has set the pace over the past eight days and advanced to the semi-final with a solid 85-71 victory over France.
The Chinese have drawn massive crowds who have made a big noise and their national team has given them plenty to cheer about with their impressive style of play.
With genuine size, speedy guards and serious perimeter shooters, China finally has a crack at its first medal at an international tournament since 1994, the last time Australia hosted this very tournament.
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