KAITAIA (New Zealand) – Tahiti continued their winning ways at the FIBA Polynesian Cup 2022 with Samoa joining the winner’s circle on day two.

American Samoa put up a strong fight against Tahiti in the first match of the day with Malia Nawahine, Mahina Hannemann-Gago and Valerie Nawahine Tanuvasa all playing hard across four quarters.  It wasn’t enough though, with Tahiti building on their lead throughout the match to win by 6-points, 65-59.

Oceane Lefranc finished with 21 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists, guiding the Tahitians to two wins from two games at the tournament.

“It was a very hard and difficult game; it was very difficult,” Lefranc said.  “We tried to stay focussed on the game and played hard until the end.  It was difficult to recover from the game yesterday, especially after the long journey to get here.”

With the gold medal and Pacific Games qualification on the line, Tahiti have a score to settle with the Cook Islands after losing the final match of the FIBA Polynesian Cup 2018 to them.

“We remember 2018, so we know they will be a tough team, but we will be ready for it,” Lefranc said.

In their first game of the tournament, Samoa came out with a point to prove as they to strive for Pacific Games 2023 qualification.

Nadia Lise Enari and the Finau sisters, Finehika and Lesila fought hard for the Tongans but Samoa was too strong muscling their way to a convincing win, 96-63.

Sienna Tutani and Azaleeah Oloapu were impressive for Samoa with Captain Malama Leaupepe leading from the front finishing with 34 points and straight to the top of the leading performers board for the tournament.

“We were really excited coming into this game, we knew that having the first day off would make us nice and fresh for today, so we are still getting to know each other and having heaps of fun as we go,” Leaupepe said.

Speaking about her individual performance, Leaupepe said “I think the energy from my team-mates on and off the court and confidence in my game and having my team there the whole way.

“We have a lot of young players who are willing to learn and soak up all the knowledge from players and staff which has been good, we are just enjoying the sport that we love.  The main message from our coach is to continue to play as a team and do our best and have mental toughness throughout the game no matter how tired we may be, we know there is another girl on the bench that is willing to play for the next girl.”

With the Pacific Games on the horizon, Leaupepe knows how much it will mean to secure that qualification spot.  “It means a lot, Samoa are still up-and-coming and trying to make our name in the basketball community, so we just want to go out there and make our country and families proud.”

The FIBA Polynesian Cup 2022 continues tomorrow at Puna Ora Stadium in Kaitaia, New Zealand with Samoa up against the Cook Islands at 12pm and American Samoa taking on Tonga at 2:30pm local time.  All games will be live streamed on the FIBA YouTube channel.

The top two teams at the Poly Cup will qualify for the 2023 Pacific Games in the Solomon Islands. The Pacific Games then serves as the official qualifier for the Oceania region to the FIBA Asia Cup Pre-Qualifiers.

FIBA