SHENZHEN (China) - Australia laid their long wait of reaching the FIBA Women's Asia Cup Final to rest after ousting Korea in the Semi-Finals of the 2025 competitions, 86-73, Saturday at the Shenzhen Sports Center.
The Opals zoomed to a big lead early, fell flat and even trailed in the second chapter, and then regained control in the third for good as they went through everything before booking a ticket to the Big Dance after eight years.
In retrospect, the last time that the program reached the Final was in 2017 - their maiden stint in the contest where they eventually settled for silver behind a Japan team that was then in the midst of a 'five-peat.'
Now, they've once again given themselves a shot at a breakthrough gold medal against either reigning champions China or the Japanese, as the traditional powerhouses duke it out in the other Semi-Finals bracket.
The Final is set tomorrow, Sunday, July 20, at 19:30 local time.
"Really excited to be in this position. This is what we came here to do, to make the Final," said Coach Paul Goriss. "That was our goal right from the very start. I'm super happy and proud of the players for where we got to."
"But we still got one more job to do," added the veteran mentor. "We want to go home with the gold medal."
Cayla George led Australia with 20 points and 13 rebounds for an efficiency (EFF) of 28. Sara Blicavs came through with 14 points on a 4-of-9 clip from deep and 6 rebounds, with Chloe Bibby supplying 12 points.
Alex Fowler notched a double-double of her own with 11 points and 12 rebounds, which she laced with 4 assists and 5 steals to net a 26 EFF. Izzy Borlase chipped in 10 points as five finished in twin digits in the win.
The quintet restored order after the Koreans took a 35-33 lead in the second as the latter woke up from a 19-5 deficit at the start of the ball game - a hole the East Asian side fell into after yielding 15 straight points.
Bibby went 2-for-2 from the line twice and scored inside between those trips for a personal 6-0 run toward a 39-33 lead with under a minute left, before Zitina Aokuso gave themselves a 42-38 cushion at the break.
The opposition managed to tie things up at 42-all early in the third but that proved to be the closest they'd get, with Borlase triggering a 13-2 reply to make it a 55-44 spread with under five minutes left in the canto.
The Opals' lead would then expand to its biggest at 15, 75-60, with 5:21 remaining in the game after consecutive hits from Fowler and George, all but sealing the deal as Korea struggled to put together a run.
"I think we came out in the second half and were really intentional about wanting to approach the third quarter to make sure we got the win, and move one step closer to our goal." George offered.
Heo Yeeun led Korea with 20 points, 3 rebounds, and 5 assists in the defeat. Park Jihyun provided 19 points while Choi Isaem added 10 as the three carried the offense on a night Park Jisu got held to only 6 points.
As tough as the loss was, Korea can find consolation with the fact that they have returned among the top four teams of the Women's Asia Cup after settling for a fifth-place finish in the 2023 meet in Sydney.
The squad of Coach Park Sooho can still bring home a medal when they battle the losing side between China and Japan for the bronze in the Third-Place Game scheduled tomorrow as well at 16:30 local time.
FIBA