HONIARA (Solomon Islands) - Samoa have defeated Fiji for the first time in Pacific Games history with a gritty one-point win.

It was the first match of the day, and it was played with a level of intensity that reverberated around Friendship Hall. The tight tussle was led by the experience of Fiji and the pace of Samoa.

For Fiji, Matila Vocea, Estelle Kainamoli, and Mili Koyamainavure stood tall, and muscled their way in under the rim with vital points and strong rebounds, but it wasn’t enough.

The determined Samons were led by Kira-May Filemu who finished with 21 points, Sienna Tutani, and Azaleeah Oloapu.

“It was a tough game, we had a tough start and went head-to-head with Fiji and pushed through to get it done,” Oloapu said.

Samoa have won all three pools games to lock in the place at the top of the pool and in a strong position ahead of the final.  “As a team we feel good and I think we really deserve this break over the next few days heading into finals,” Oloapu said.

Azaleeah Oloapu in action

“We have gone through a lot to get to this point of the competition, and to get this win in a close match really sets us up."

In the final game of the day Guam notched up their first win of the competition against Solomon Islands, 56-44.

Destiny Castro was superb finishing with a massive 32 points, leading her team to their first win of the competition.

Destiny Castro on her way to shooting 32 points

“It was a great match and a good fight on both sides, we knew we needed to come out and get the win to advance, and our team did that to get the win,” Castro said.  On her shooting, Castro said, “It feels great, but obviously the whole goal was to win, but a 30 point plus game is always nice.”

In the other matches of the day, the Cook Islands held out Papua New Guinea to continue their unbeaten run, 59-37.  While Tonga pushed hard in their match, Tahiti had the depth to come up with the win 62-44.

The Pacific Games will be hosted by Solomon Islands from November 19 – December 2, 2023.  The Pacific Games Women’s Basketball Tournament is the official qualifiers of the Oceania region to the FIBA Women’s Asia Cup Division B.