SEREMBAN (Malaysia) - Madison Ryan nailed the biggest shot of her young career to tow Australia past Japan, 83-82, to rule the FIBA U18 Women's Asia Cup for the straight time, Saturday night at the Karisma Arena.
The 17-year-old forward finished with 17 points and 17 rebounds, delivering in the clutch when the Gems went to her for the go-ahead bucket to erase an 81-82 deficit with only nine-tenths of a second left to play.
Cold-blooded was Ryan in the winning play, using her size advantage against a phalanx of defenders to hit the short stab which took the fight out of their smaller yet gritty counterparts from East Asia.
The Aussies then buckled down to work on defense in the final possession, preventing Miya Takeuchi from getting a good look from deep as time expired on the way to accomplishing their mission of winning a 'three-peat.'
With this, the powerhouse from Oceania have become just the third team ever in competition history to achieve a 'treble' after Korea and China, who were the last to do so during their reign of dominance from 2010 to 2018.
Other Gems shone bright in the triumph, with Isabel Smith coming through with 16 points. Olivia Olechnowicz supplied 15 points, while Jemyma Manyok added 13 points and 8 rebounds plus 5 of the team's 7 blocks.
*This article will be updated.