U19W - Buzzer beaters, near misses and three point shooting highlight day four

PUERTO MONTT (2011 FIBA U19 World Championship for Women) - China nearly caused the upset of the tournament so far, going within a whisker of defeating the USA as the Eight Finals of the FIBA U19 World Championship for Women began.

The Asian champions twice rallied from a double figure deficit, once in the second quarter and again in the final term as they charged from 12 points down at three quarter time to tie the game on a number of occasions.

Behind the play of Bria Hartley (18 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists) and Kaleena Lewis (19 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists) the Americans held their nerve, but weren't secure in their 80-77 victory until Mengran Sun's game-tying three point attempt, with only seconds remaining, sailed wide.
 
Jiayi Zuo was superb for China with 23 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists. Jiamei Liang contributed 15 points on 5/7 three-point shooting along with 7 rebounds.

Japan continued being the tale of the tournament, destroying Italy 97-69 behind a barrage of three-point shooting, connecting on 16/26 from behind the arc. Shiori Takada led the way with 31 points on 8/10 from long range.

"The reason I could hit so many three pointers was because my teammates got me so many open shots, so I feel I have to make the shots for them," she said after the game. "We had so many in the crowd and they were cheering for us, so that made me play better."

Rui Machida had 22 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists and 5 steals in another outstanding performance, while Sanae Motokawa finished with 17 points. Giulia Maffenini led Italy with 17 points.

At Puerto Varas Argentina defeated Egypt 94-73 in an up-tempo affair, with Rocio Diaz leading the scoring for Argentina with 20 points, while Hagar Amer was dominant for Egypt with 29 points, 14 rebounds and 3 blocks.

Star guard Melisa Gretter recorded 10 assists and 5 steals and was relieved to get her team's first win. "We came for more, but it was good (to win)," she said. "We will keep fighting until the end, including the next game tomorrow, when it will get tougher."
 
The game was an appetiser for a classic between France and Spain, which came down to the last second, when Helena Akmouche's long range two-pointer caught nothing but net as time expired, giving the French a dramatic 57-55 win before a raucous, near capacity Puerto Varas crowd.


Adja Konteh was brilliant for France with 15 points, while Mariona Ortiz nearly carried Spain to victory with 21 points and 7 rebounds.
 
Canada were again impressive in their 66-50 win over Russia, leading the game by 30 points at half time. Nirra Fields (22 points, 7 rebounds) and Michelle Plouffe (17 points) were again the stars for the Canadians, though coach Rich Chambers wasn't completely satisfied.

"I was very happy with the first half," he said. "We weren't so good in the second half, but full credit to Russia, they came out and moved the ball, beat us to every ball, hit shots and they played a really outstanding third quarter."
 
In the final two games of the night at Puerto Montt, Brazil fought off a determined Chile to record a 79-53 win. Damiris Dantas continued her hot form with 22 points and 18 rebounds, and Isabella Romana recorded 18 points and 5 assists for Brazil.

The host nation was led by Francisca Rojas with 13 points and 6 rebounds.

Australia easily accounted for Chinese Taipei, 89-46, and guaranteed themselves a place in the Quarter Finals. Tayla Roberts scored 18 points and grabbed 8 rebounds for Australia, and Yu-Chun Wei scored 15 points for Taipei.


FIBA