SEREMBAN (Malaysia) - Korea made sure to keep their Division A status by venting all their frustrations on Syria with a wire-to-wire 101-46 victory in the FIBA U16 Women's Asia Cup 2025, Friday at the Karisma Arena.
The four-time medalists from East Asia wasted no time setting the pace, rolling to a 19-4 start before finishing the opening period with a 32-15 lead on the way to ending their campaign with a win after an 0-3 start.
Although they would've preferred to be competing for a medal like the previous batches, Coach Lee Seonyoung & Co. still did enough to stay in the top level instead of being relegated to Division B like their foes.
By finishing the tournament winless in four outings, the West Asian team dropped back to the second division and will have to earn the promotion back in the next edition of the U16 Women's Asia Cup in 2027.
Four players finished in double figures for Team Korea, with the tandem of Lim Seun and Han Yedam leading the way with 21 points apiece - they also combined for nine of the team's 16 three-pointers.
Han presided over their strong start as she already had 19 in the first half.
Kim Damhee fell just two assists short of a rare triple-double with 18 points, 13 rebounds, and 8 assists. Kim Sewon chipped in 12 as the crew clearly wanted to bounce back after that heartbreaking loss to the Philippines.
It could be recalled that Korea fell to a Tiffany Reyes buzzer-beater, effectively kicking the squad out of contention which also marked the second successive time that they failed to compete for a place in the podium.
Korea will finish seventh in this year's games.
Miral Alhasan, on the other hand, led Syria with 18 points.
FIBA