FRA - Daily review (Day 1)

TOULOUSE/RODEZ (2010 FIBA U17 World Championship for Women) – Gretel Tippett’s basket with 1:13 left to play proved to be the winning basket as Australia held on to beat Spain 58-57 in the closest game on the opening day of the FIBA U17 World Championship for Women.

Expectations were high for the last game on the programme in Toulouse and it certainly lived up to the billing, turning out to be a very close and gritty contest.

The Australians led 10-8 after five minutes and 20-15 at the end of the first period. Spain came back and edged in front 23-22 early in the second period but went into the locker room down 28-26 at halftime.

There was nothing to separate the two teams in the third quarter and the Aussies took a 44-42 lead heading into the final frame.

The Spaniards used their uptempo game to come back and go in front 50-46 on Andre Vilaro’s basket with just over seven minutes left to play. However, Peter Lonergan’s girls clamped down on defense and made the big baskets down the stretch to take a deserving win.

At the same time, in Rodez, the USA used of their strong inside presence to shake off hosts France in the second half and beat them 70-45 in a packed Amphitheatre.

In front of a 2,000 strong crowd, the game was very intense and the Americans took a 22-12 lead at the end of the first quarter.

But with the fans cheering them on, the French fought back and cut the deficit to three, 31-28 by halftime.

After the break, the Americans made the most of their height and power advantage down low to create some distance between themselves and France and the strategy worked to great effect as they took a 56-36 advantage into the final frame.

The French were struggling, turning the ball over time and time agan and forced to foul to prevent easy baskets.

Breanna Stewart paced the Americans with 13 points and seven rebounds.

Earlier in Toulouse, Emma Meesseman had 16 points and nine rebunds as Belgium dispatched Mali 80-27.

Sadio Konate buried a three-pointer to edge the Malians in front, 5-4, but they then turned the ball over several times and the Belgians made the most of it, scoring the last 12 points of the opening period.

A 32-7 halftime lead turned into a 64-14 cushion as Daniel Goethals’s girls at one point reeled off 28 unanswered points in the third quarter.

Much to the delight of the fans in attendance, Mali found some scoring punch late in that period and in the final frame but by that stage the game’s outcome was already a foregone conclusion.

Nirra Fields helped Canada get by Turkey 82-73 in Rodez. The Turks could not contain the Canadian guard who finished with a game-high 25 points and also grabbed nine rebounds.

Turkey were not helped by their shooting woes as they connected on only six of their 35 field goal attempts in the first half to trail 37-24. They found their shooting touch after the break but could not find a way to slow down Canada’s offense.

Also in Rodez, Russia used their physical advantage to see off Japan 93-68.

The long and athletic Russians proved to be an insurmountable wall which the Japanese simply could not make their way around.

At the other end of the court, Anna Arkhipova-Von Kalmanovic’s girls used of some strong inside play and transition baskets to record the highest scoring output of the day.

Ksenia Tikhonenko put on a show with 22 points, 16 rebounds and two blocks for Russia who raced out to a 24-6 lead at the end of the first quarter and rarely looked back.

Japan struggled from the field, but drove to the basket tirelessly and got rewarded with 25 free-throw attempts, of which they converted an impressive 23.

In Toulouse, China shot the ball extremely well and consequently beat Argentina 72-54.

The Chinese shot 24 of 47 from the field (including six of 11 from beyond the arc) and also made the most of their trips to the free-throw line, missing just eight attempts out of 26.

Argentina trailed 21-11 at the end of the first period and 38-21 at the break. They got back within 14 thanks to the hot hand of Rocio Diaz early in the third quarter, but China just had things going their way on the day as their shooters had the hot hand and their inside players made the Argentinians pay for not double-teaming fast enough.

FIBA/LOC