 |
| FIBA.com photo |
Japan saved their best performance of the 2017 FIBA Asia Women's Cup in the gold medal match, shocking world no. 4 Australia, 74-73 to complete a three-peat in the continental championship in India.
Saki Mizushima had 26 points including the go-ahead triple with 1:26 left which broke the last deadlock, 74-71. Mizushima was on fire from the outside all-game long, shooting an impressive 7-of-9 from three-point area.
Yuki Miyazawa and Moeko Nagaoka chipped in 11 and 10 points, respectively for the winners.
Kelsey Griffin led the Opals with 30 big points on 11-of-19 shooting. She also had 15 boards. Marianna Tolo had 13 points, eight rebounds, four assists, and two blocks.
Griffin's putback pulled Australia within one, before teams exhanged misses. Japan wasted as much time possible with Belinda Snell's last-second try to steal the game failing to hit the mark.
Japan did the accomplishment without Seattle Storm center Ramu Tokashiki and Rio de Janeiro Olympics second leading scorer Mika Kurihara. In addition, Asami Yoshida, also a key part of their Olympic squad last year, didn't play in the final.
The Opals on their part didn't have any active WNBA player for the tournament.
Griffin was named Most Valuable Player of the tournament, also headlining the All-Star Five along with Nagaoka, Manami Fujioka, Li Yueru, and Lim Yung-Hui.
 |
| FIBA.com photo |
In the bronze medal match, China defeated Korea, 75-51. Yueru and Huang Si-Jing both had 16 points in the win.
In the Division B final, host country India edged Kazakhstan in an equally-thrilling game, 75-73 to clinch a spot in Division A of the next edition of the tournament.
The next continental championship is the 2017 FIBA Women's AmeriCup in Argentina.
Watch highlights of the final with this video from the FIBA YouTube channel.
Comments
Post a Comment