SEREMBAN (Malaysia) - Japan stormed back in the fourth quarter to beat New Zealand, 76-72, and advance to the FIBA U16 Women's Asia Cup 2025 Semi-Finals, Wednesday evening at the Karisma Arena.
Momoko Kaji nailed a trey, Ran Kobayashi scored from close range, and Miya Takeuchi made a trey of her own as the trio produced the 8-0 run toward the 72-67 lead with 3:09 to go to stay ahead all the way.
Takeuchi then came through with a split from the line with 3.6 seconds left, purposely missing her second attempt to run the clock and ultimately enable the many-time finalists to escape with the four-point win.
With that, the Japanese clinched the top spot in Group B with a 3-0 record, in the process becoming the second team after Australia to reach the final four - and the FIBA U17 Women's Basketball World Cup 2026, too.
Takeuchi once again led the way for Team Japan with 19 points, on top of 3 rebounds and 6 assists.
Kaji produced 13 points. Kobayashi finished with a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds, while Honoka Yasui chipped in 10 points as a total of eight players contributed at least 3 points in the triumph.
Leading New Zealand, on the other hand, were Shamar Broughton with 19 points. Emila Ainley finished with a double-double of 17 points and 15 rebounds in the defeat, where they squandered a lead as big as 12.
With the loss, the NZL Girls finished third in the group with a 1-2 record, but will still advance to the Qualification to Semi-Finals where they will take on the second-place team of Group A in Chinese Taipei (2-1).
Finishing second in Group B were China with a 2-1 card after keeping Syria listless, 93-27.
All 12 players scored at least a field goal in the win, with Liu Rui leading all scorers with 16 points which she laced with 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and 5 of the team's 20 steals - all that under 23 minutes of play.
Li Anni supplied 13 points and 8 rebounds. Zhu Siyu finished with 12 points, while Li Yuqian added 10 points and 9 rebounds as the trio spearheaded the bench support in the easy wire-to-wire victory.
Team China will face the Philippines, who finished third in Group A, in the Qualification to Semi-Finals.
FIBA