SYDNEY (Australia) - New awards were announced at the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2022 including the Best Defensive Player, Best Coach, and World Cup 2022 All-Second Team.

The All-Second Team was led by the Defensive Player Alyssa Thomas and joined by four other outstanding players in Sydney -Li Yueru of China, Arella Guirantes of Puerto Rico, Gabby Williams of France, and Yvonne Anderson of Serbia.

Thomas was an all-around force for USA aside from her defensive chops, averaging 9.9 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 4.3 assists per game and continuously flirting with recording a triple-double almost every game.

Competing against Thomas in the Final of the Women's World Cup was Li Yueru. The 23-year-old was one of the most efficient scorers in the competition, shooting 60.3 percent from the floor throughout the competition on the way to scoring 10.1 points while also grabbing 7.6 rebounds per game.

Guirantes had a grand debut with 26 points, 9 rebounds, and 8 assists in a historic win for Puerto Rico and continued to put the team on her shoulders to the end. She’d finish as the leading scorer of the tournament with 18.2 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per contest.

Williams stepped up as a leader for young France in this Women's World Cup which was evident right from the start when they upset hosts Australia. She was among the top 5 scorers of the competition with 15.8 points per game while also putting up 5.5 rebounds and 3.3 assists per contest.

Serbia made it through to the Quarter-Finals and a large part of that was because of star guard Yvonne Anderson. The 1.75M (5'9") guard led the competition in assists with 6.5 assists per game while also scoring 15.0 points and 4.2 rebounds per contest.

The Best Defensive Player is Alyssa Thomas, who spearheaded a havoc-wrecking USA defense on their way to winning the Women's World Cup 2022. USA have held their opponents to 58.0 points per game and only 35.1 percent shooting from the floor through the entire competition as Thomas led the way with 2.4 steals per game to be among the leaders of the competition and a fierce physical intensity.

The Best Coach was awarded to Zheng Wei who led China to an incredible run all the way to the Final. This was their second appearance in the Final of a Women’s World Cup with the last time being in 1994, also hosted in Australia. China’s only losses in the competition came at the hands of eventual champions USA with the first matchup being in the Group Phase before playing each other again in the Final. Whether it was points, field goal shooting, three-point shooting, assists, or EFF, China was second to only USA in each statistical category.

FIBA