FRA – FIBA U17 World Championship for Women semi-finals preview

TOULOUSE (FIBA U17 World Championship for Women) – And then there were four. China, the USA, Belgium and France will do battle in Saturday’s semi-finals of the inaugural FIBA U17 World Championship for Women fully intent on booking a place for Sunday’s showdown.

China and the USA will tip things off in the first semi-final (17:30 CET) at the Palais des Sports in Toulouse.

China overcame Russia 68-59 in their quarter-final but did not look as convincing as they had in past games. They shot just 37.1 percent from the field and turned the ball over 22 times – not the kind of mistakes usually associated with Wang Guizhi’s girls.

Perhaps the day off on Thursday left them a bit rusty. Since suffering their first loss against fellow semi-finalists Belgium on Tuesday, the Chinese haven’t looked nearly as dominant as they did in their first three games.

And they will need to be at their very best to contend with the USA, a team that does not show any signs of slowing down and is undefeated in six games.

The Americans got off to a slow start in their quarter-final against Spain and even trailed by four, 12-8, early on. It was probably the first time they were behind by that many points, but they quickly restored order with a 19-4 run that resulted in a 27-16 first quarter lead and they were on their way to a comfortable 86-57 win.

Barbara Nelson’s girls have yet to come up against a team that can match up with them in the paint. China might stand the best chance of doing so thanks to Dong Yu and Mingyang Li, who combine for 30 point per game. Guards Hongyang Cui and Yi Shen will also prove a handful.

However, as has been said since the very first day of competition, the Americans possess depth that most teams can only dream of having. All 12 USA players can and do get to play as part of Nelson’s well-balanced rotation.

Elisabeth Williams, Breanna Stewart and Cassidie Burdick will draw the assignments of stopping Yu and Li while Jewell Loyd and Ariel Massengale will likely be matched up with Cui and Shen.

After the USA-China game, a re-match of last year’s U16 European Championship for Women will then follow as France take on Belgium (20:30).

The Belgians prevailed 73-58 on that occasion and then claimed a silver medal. Now, their French neighbours would like nothing better than to exact some measure of revenge.

It may come as a surprise to some that France are still alive in the competition after they lost their first two Group A games and almost fell to Japan as they blew most of an 18-point lead in about six minutes, before hanging on to win even if just barely.

But Arnaud Guppillotte’s girls have come out on top in their last four games and their 69-59 quarter-final win over Australia suggests they have found the recipe to success: playing tough defense, going after every loose ball and playing inside out on offense.

Guards Esther Niamke and Olivia Epoupa have done an excellent job in the backcourt at both ends of the court while Christelle Diallo and Maeguax Galliou-Loko have made their presence felt in the paint.

Belgium can count on Julie Vanloo and Emma Meesseman to lead by example. The pair have played together for a number of years and no two other team-mates in the tournament seem to communicate and play off of one another quite as well.

Daniel Goethals’ side beat Japan 93-70 in the quarter-final, a result that was widely expected.

The Belgian are peaking at the right time. After a shock defeat against Argentina in Group B of the Preliminary Round, Goethals held a team meeting where he spoke completely honestly and held every player accountable for her mistakes.

The pep talk looks to have worked to perfection as they have not lost since, edging out Spain and then seeing off China, Australia and Japan.

On paper, the teams looked evenly matched and the game will be decided by who does the little things best.

FIBA/LOC