Paita (New Caledonia) - Australia's Women's team followed the footsteps of its Men's U17 in an earlier game, sweeping its way to the next round after a 79-53 romp of nemesis New Zealand at the close of the Group Phase play.
 
Up by just 10 entering the fourth period, the Sapphires limited the Women Tall Blacks to just 9 points in the last quarter while erupting for 25 points to score its third straight win in as many games in the process.
 
The Aussies thus claimed the top seeding in Group A and an outright Semi-Final berth of this Oceania conclave.
 
Millie Prior hauled down a double-double of 13 points and 11 rebounds while all but one player also contributed in scoring for Australia.
 
Gemma Porter keyed in 13, Kate Deeble with 11 while Kelsey Rees added 10 more as the Aussies bolstered their FIBA U17 Oceania Championship retention bid.
 
On the other hand, NZ just could not keep up with its rival and suffered its first defeat and got 12 points apiece from Arielle Williams and Emilee Bree Tahata.

Ashlee Strawbridge also contributed 10 in a losing effort for the Women Tall Blacks, who nonetheless, joined the Aussies in the Semis as the sure top two in Group A with a 2-1 card.

Tahiti beats Cook Islands  79-33

Tahiti completed a sweep in Group B after running over the Cook Islands, 79-33, at the end of the preliminary round in the 2019 FIBA U17 Oceania Championships women's division.
 
Banking on two straight blowout wins against Papua New Guinea (78-29) and New Caledonia (64-54), Tahiti had no problem dominating its last assignment as it started the game with a 19-5 salvo.
 
Tahiti thus stayed perfect at 3-0 in Group B entering the next round of this prestigious Oceania tilt among 17-and-under cagers.
 
Mahinetea Viriamu stuffed the stat sheet with 17 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists and 5 steals to pace the Tahiti onslaught.
 
Providing key support for her were Hauhere Ching-Bellais, Tearere Richmond and Elodie Oestreicher with 15, 14 and 12 markers, respectively.
 
Hoana Rose-Solomon was the lone bright spot for the Cook Islands with 11.

The Cook Islands, which also lost to Papua New Guinea (48-52) and host New Caledonia (54-62), slipped to 0-3 in Group B will play in the 7th-8th classification round.

Samoa beats Guam, 81-51

Samoa tripped Guam, 81-51, to notch its first win in the 2019 FIBA U17 Oceania Championships Women's division.
 
Kalista Niu tallied a huge double-double of 15 points and 18 rebounds to banner the Samoans' attack who proved to be just the hungrier squad in the battle of winless squads.
 
Tyla Fautua checked in 14 more for Samoa while Jana Taufua and Nive Lale piled up 13 and 12 markers, respectively.
 
Samoa, which suffered forgettable defeats against Group A Semifinalists Australia (8-99) and New Zealand (35-93), upped its slate to 1-2 to seal the No. 3 spot in the group.
 
Samoa will play in the qualifying round of the tournament.
 
Alana Salas, for her part, paced Guam with 17 points.
 
Guam slid to 0-3 owing also to blowout defeats against Australia (9-144) and New Zealand (24-140).

New Caledonia beats Papua New Guinea, 56-51
 
With a frenetic home crowd behind them, host New Caledonia once again unleashed a strong finishing kick to eclipse Papua New Guinea, 56-51, and secure the second seed in the Group B of the 2019 FIBA Oceania Championships women's division.
 
Staring two-point deficit (39-41) deficit after three quarters, the home team rode on a searing 17-10 payoff period windup to snatch the match from the visiting PNG side and avenged its close 54-64 loss to Group B leader Tahiti the other day.
 
With also a win over the Cook Islands in Day 1, New Caledonia improved to 2-1 slate to clinch the second place in Group B to advance to the Qualifying round.
 
Leilani Tartas racked up 14 points, 18 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals for the host.
 
Backstopping her was Noemie Ounou with 11 together with Celia Puleoto and Enola Noemie Sangarne who added 10 points apiece.
 
Meanwhile, PNG failed to advance is relegated to the Classification round despite the 16 and 15 markers of Magdalene Javapro and Alice Kaiawa, respectively.
 
FIBA