Super Sapphires book quarter finals spot

THE AUSTRALIAN Sapphires are through to the quarter finals of the 2024 Under-17 FIBA Women’s World Cup after producing a dominant win over the Chinese Taipei overnight.

The Aussies came into the tournament with high hopes, bringing a talented roster to the table and being renowned as a competitive basketball nation. The Sapphires delivered to make it out of the group stage and faced off against the Chinese Taipei in the Round of 16.

It could not have been a better start from the Aussies at the Inforum in Mexico. The Sapphires started the game firing on the offensive end, sharing the ball around and getting several players involved to break out to a solid lead on the scoreboard. On the other hand, the Chinese Taipei were suffocated defensively, restricted to just six points for the term and trailed by 16 points at the opening change.

Australia’s dominance continued into the second term, as the Sapphires continued their excellence offensively, finding the open player and picking holes in the opposition’s defence in order to generate easy baskets. The lead ballooned out to 31 points at half time with the result essentially decided.

Chinese Taipei improved its offensive output in the third quarter, looking to push the ball inside and attack the paint, as three-point shooting was proving an ineffective formula. Although it was a better showing on the scoring front, they lacked the defence to slow down the Aussies, and the margin was extended out to 40 points with a quarter to play.

The Sapphires took the foot off the gas in the final period, resting some of their players with the win in hand. Remarkably, they were still too good for the opposition and cruised home to a 44-point triumph, eliminating the Chinese Taipei in the process.

Lara Somfai top scored for the victors with 14 points, shooting 50 per cent from the field (4/8 FG) and a perfect 5/5 from the charity stripe in an efficient display, doing all of this in just 12 minutes. Jade Crook also impressed with 13 points and seven rebounds, while Emma Petrie stuffed the stat sheet with nine points, five rebounds and five assists.

The result sets up a quarter-final clash against Spain at 10am AEST, as the Sapphires look to keep their hot form rolling.