SEREMBAN (Malaysia) - India moved closer to the FIBA U16 Women's Asia Cup 2025-Division B Semi-Finals following an 81-69 victory over Uzbekistan, Sunday at the Karisma Arena.
SABA's own began to seize control in the third canto before pulling away for good in the final period as the crew showed that they can win convincingly, too, after coming from behind to beat Iran some 24 hours ago.
Coach Anitha Pauldurai & Co. have now gone 2-0, thus taking the provisional lead in Group A that has also put the team in a good position to nab the no. 1 spot in the group for an outright trip to the final four.
They can do so against Samoa in the Group Phase's final day on Monday, September 15, at 11:30 local time, facing a squad that's already lost twice in as many outings after bowing to a vengeful Iran earlier in the day.
Viha Reddy Jonnalagadda starred in the triumph with 24 points and 13 rebounds, which she laced with 3 assists, 2 steals, and 3 blocks for an efficiency of 33 - the most by any player in this year's tilt to date.
Aditi Subramanian made 17 points behind a 4-of-7 clip from beyond the arc as she and Jonnalagadda bannered the strong second-half surge to put the game away after a nip-and-tuck affair in the first two quarters.
Subramanian nailed back-to-back triples to push their lead to 53-43 with 5:43 left in the third, and Jonnalagadda would come through in the fourth by scoring 7 of their first 9 points to widen the gap to 66-52.
The game would never be in question since, with Shravani Shivanna inflating the lead to its biggest at 16 points, 79-63, following a high-arching bank shot from underneath the basket with only 2:47 remaining.
Mahek Sharma, the heroine in their 70-67 escape versus the Iranians, notched 14 points and 11 rebounds. Reva Kulkarni also made 14 points as four players finished in double figures to lead the balanced attack.
Farangiz Lutfullaeva, on the other hand, led Uzbekistan with 19 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists as they couldn't replicate their comeback versus Samoa in which they crawled back from down 12 points.
Rayhona Salimova registered 15 points and 11 rebounds, while Munirakhon Khalikova and Shakhzoda Urinova chipped in 13 and 10 points, respectively, in the defeat that dropped their win-loss record to 1-1.
Uzbekistan will next face Iran, who are also carrying a similar 1-1 card after venting all of their frustrations on the Samoans by dealing the latter a 78-45 beatdown to open Day 2 of the Division B competitions.
That collapse to India still fresh in their minds, the young Team Melli roared to a 20-9 start into the match before breaking away in the second chapter, never to let up as they indeed learned from Saturday's lessons.
It could be recalled that the West Asian side coughed up a 61-50 fourth-quarter lead to their counterparts from South Asia, with Mahek Sharma making the game-winning three-point play entering the final minute.
And that's precisely why the charges of Coach Serveh Zarghamyan showed a concerted effort to double down on defense, especially in the final period even though they were already leading by 20-plus points.
Four players finished in double figures in the win, led by Elina Kazemevini with 13 points. Asma Shadrouh and Elena Ahmadian produced 12 points apiece, with the latter adding 4 rebounds and 6 assists plus a steal.
Sara Mokhtari notched a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds as 11 of the 12 players scored at least 2 points in the triumph thanks to the 24 assists they finished with - 14 more than what their foes had.
Jalyn Newton-Taito had 10 points to lead Samoa.
FIBA