Race for the All-Star Five ready to pick up pace

ZARAGOZA (2016 FIBA U17 Women's World Championship) - With the Group Phase in the books, the race to make the 2016 FIBA U17 Women’s World Championship All Star Five will now gather pace.

We pick out six prospects from a long list of early contenders.

Laeticia Amihere (Canada) @_Theblackqueen_

Arguably the main contender by some distance heading towards the Round of 16, the 1.86m forward/centre has enjoyed a sensational global debut with Canada and currently leads the 2015 FIBA Americas U16 champions with an outstanding double-double of 19 points and 18.5 boards per game. Even more impressively, she has the best efficiency rating among all players at a wonderful 32.5 and, as she is still only 14 years old, Amihere is also eligible to play at the next edition of the tournament.

Ana Ramos (Portugal)

The MVP of the FIBA U16 Women's European Championship 2015 started this tournament with a splash as she posted a terrific 27 points against Spain. While it was not enough to bring her team a victory, two games later she led by example by top-scoring with another 17 points to take down Mali and deliver Portugal's maiden success on a global stage. She is also currently averaging a team-high 4.3 assists per game.

Adela Smutna (Czech Republic) @adsmut4

While much of the focus before the tournament surrounded her frontcourt partner Veronika Sipova, it has been Smutna who has impressed so far in Zaragoza. With an excellent 16.3 points per game achieved from a fine 61 percent shooting, she is showing that she can really finish around the basket. With the Czech Republic eyeing a place in the Last Eight, her sweet scoring touch could prove pivotal as they look to repeat or better their fourth-place finish from two years ago.

Sofia Galeron (Spain) @Galeron_18 

It was hard to assess expectation levels for the host nation on the eve of the tournament since they had been disappointing at last year's FIBA U16 Women's European Championship. But they have been perfect so far, with Galeron the main reason after leading the way with team-highs of 17.3 points and 8.7 rebounds per game. She also has the second best efficiency ranking in the tournament and that underlines just what a great job the centre has done.

Aquira De Costa (USA) @d1_shiftteam

There are a few USA players who have made strong claims for a place in the All-Star Five and De Costa is just one of them. The forward has made a positive start and has been the her team's most efficient player so far - even if she did have a shooting night to forget in the second game (1 of 9). Yet during that meeting with Czech Republic, she still pulled down 16 boards to underline her impact and she is currently averaging 15 rebounds per game.

Ezi Magbegor (Australia)

Coming to Zaragoza with a growing reputation, Magbegor has shown her talents with some classy performances. While foul trouble has slowed her down and limited her to just under 15 minutes per outing, she has still managed to lead the flawless Sapphires in points (10.7), rebounds (7.0) and blocked shots (1.3). It feels like there is even more to come from the athletic centre and with Australia already in the Quarter-Finals, she could have a big say in whether they really can challenge for a first ever podium place.

FIBA