FIBA Basketball
FIBA - Opals face Tall Ferns for Commonwealth gold
MELBOURNE (Commonwealth Games) - Arch-rivals Australia and New Zealand will go head-to-head for gold in the women's final of the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne while England's women will take on
MELBOURNE (Commonwealth Games) - Arch-rivals Australia and New Zealand will go head-to-head for gold in the women's final of the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne while England's women will take on Nigeria for bronze.
Both the Aussies and Kiwis won their semi-final matches on Tuesday to set up a final showdown that most people would have expected - and wanted - when the tournament began. Australia brushed aside the challenge of Nigeria with consummate ease to win the first semi-final 105-49 but New Zealand, who reached the quarter-finals of the Athens Olympics in 2004, had it much tougher before beating England 74-67 to join them in Thursday's final.
England were given only an outside chance of upsetting the Tall Ferns but they pushed their opponents all the way and, with a bit more composure late on, they could even have claimed a shock upset at the end. Branislav Bazany's side were within six points of New Zealand at 73-67 with just over a minute left but they were unable to score off any of their final four possessions to slump to an agonising defeat.
"We are very disappointed. We missed so many free throws and too many shots under the basket. We had our chances but were not good enough," said Bazany, whose team will now play Nigeria for the bronze medal.
England look good bets to win that game, especially if they match their performance from Tuesday. A bronze would help the women build momentum for the Olympics in 2012 which are being staged in London. Britain must demonstrate in the build-up to the tournament they can field a "competitive" team, according to basketball's world governing body FIBA.
Bazany added: "Our team played hard and I am proud of them. The New Zealanders play more games in their leagues than we do but as a team we are coming together."
Forward Andrea Congreaves, who came into the match with an average of 17 points per game, again led England in both scoring (16) and rebounding (12) while Rosalee Mason added 15 points and six rebounds.
New Zealand's leading scorer was their Olympic star Angela Marino with 16 points but it was the Tall Ferns' accuracy from behind the arc that proved a crucial aspect of the game, downing 40% of their 15 efforts compared to just 17% (3 of 17) for England.
Australia, the tournament favourites, had it much easier than their antipodean counterparts.
The Opals were quickly into their stride and Nigeria were 16-0 down before they got their first points on the board, Ezinne James successfully scoring two free throws. It then took Nigeria until midway through the second period to reach double figures, by which stage Australia had accumulated 42 points and were well on the way to victory.
Australia superstar Lauren Jackson continued her fine tournament, scoring 24 points in the opening half en route to a total of 37 points. The tournament hosts will now play their local rivals in the final, a match Jackson admits her side are desperate to win.
"There's pressure on us from everyone to win gold," said the superstar forward/centre. We just want to win the gold medal so bad."
Australia should have point guard Tully Bevilaqua available for the final. Bevilaqua missed the game against Nigeria with an ankle injury but coach Jan Stirling insists it is not a problem.
"She'll be fine. She could've played this match, and wanted to pay, but we need her to be as close to 100% as she can be for the gold medal game because New Zealand have strength in their guard rotations, so Tully be important in that sense," said Stirling.
In the battle for the lower places, India defeated Malta 80-47 and Mozambique edged out Malaysia 80-70. Geethu Jose was the game's leading scorer with 25 points while she also hauled down 12 rebounds for India. Malta's Josephine Grima, who entered the game averaging 18 points in the tournament, poured in 22 points as well as hauling down 22 rebounds. Grima received precious little support from her team-mates though, with Malta shooting just 25% from the floor, including one of 13 from three-point range.
Mozambique were quick out of the blocks in their match and the game well within their control by half-time as they boasted a 25-point lead. Malaysia, for whom Suik Kew scored 18 points, hit back in the third period, which they won 27-13, but the overall deficit proved too great for them as Mozambique held on for the win. The victors had a big game from Rute Muianga, who scored 24 points, hauled down eight rebounds and handed out three assists.
From Mike Perez, PA Sport, Melbourne
Both the Aussies and Kiwis won their semi-final matches on Tuesday to set up a final showdown that most people would have expected - and wanted - when the tournament began. Australia brushed aside the challenge of Nigeria with consummate ease to win the first semi-final 105-49 but New Zealand, who reached the quarter-finals of the Athens Olympics in 2004, had it much tougher before beating England 74-67 to join them in Thursday's final.
England were given only an outside chance of upsetting the Tall Ferns but they pushed their opponents all the way and, with a bit more composure late on, they could even have claimed a shock upset at the end. Branislav Bazany's side were within six points of New Zealand at 73-67 with just over a minute left but they were unable to score off any of their final four possessions to slump to an agonising defeat.
"We are very disappointed. We missed so many free throws and too many shots under the basket. We had our chances but were not good enough," said Bazany, whose team will now play Nigeria for the bronze medal.
England look good bets to win that game, especially if they match their performance from Tuesday. A bronze would help the women build momentum for the Olympics in 2012 which are being staged in London. Britain must demonstrate in the build-up to the tournament they can field a "competitive" team, according to basketball's world governing body FIBA.
Bazany added: "Our team played hard and I am proud of them. The New Zealanders play more games in their leagues than we do but as a team we are coming together."
Forward Andrea Congreaves, who came into the match with an average of 17 points per game, again led England in both scoring (16) and rebounding (12) while Rosalee Mason added 15 points and six rebounds.
New Zealand's leading scorer was their Olympic star Angela Marino with 16 points but it was the Tall Ferns' accuracy from behind the arc that proved a crucial aspect of the game, downing 40% of their 15 efforts compared to just 17% (3 of 17) for England.
Australia, the tournament favourites, had it much easier than their antipodean counterparts.
The Opals were quickly into their stride and Nigeria were 16-0 down before they got their first points on the board, Ezinne James successfully scoring two free throws. It then took Nigeria until midway through the second period to reach double figures, by which stage Australia had accumulated 42 points and were well on the way to victory.
Australia superstar Lauren Jackson continued her fine tournament, scoring 24 points in the opening half en route to a total of 37 points. The tournament hosts will now play their local rivals in the final, a match Jackson admits her side are desperate to win.
"There's pressure on us from everyone to win gold," said the superstar forward/centre. We just want to win the gold medal so bad."
Australia should have point guard Tully Bevilaqua available for the final. Bevilaqua missed the game against Nigeria with an ankle injury but coach Jan Stirling insists it is not a problem.
"She'll be fine. She could've played this match, and wanted to pay, but we need her to be as close to 100% as she can be for the gold medal game because New Zealand have strength in their guard rotations, so Tully be important in that sense," said Stirling.
In the battle for the lower places, India defeated Malta 80-47 and Mozambique edged out Malaysia 80-70. Geethu Jose was the game's leading scorer with 25 points while she also hauled down 12 rebounds for India. Malta's Josephine Grima, who entered the game averaging 18 points in the tournament, poured in 22 points as well as hauling down 22 rebounds. Grima received precious little support from her team-mates though, with Malta shooting just 25% from the floor, including one of 13 from three-point range.
Mozambique were quick out of the blocks in their match and the game well within their control by half-time as they boasted a 25-point lead. Malaysia, for whom Suik Kew scored 18 points, hit back in the third period, which they won 27-13, but the overall deficit proved too great for them as Mozambique held on for the win. The victors had a big game from Rute Muianga, who scored 24 points, hauled down eight rebounds and handed out three assists.
From Mike Perez, PA Sport, Melbourne