CANBERRA (Australia) - The defending champions Australia began their FIBA U15 Women's Oceania Championship on a high note, while New Zealand, Fiji, and Tonga all collected wins on opening day.
New Zealand began their road to returning to the Finals with an 82-45 win over two-time Semi-Finalists Samoa.
After shaking off some jitters early in the first quarter, the young Tall Ferns broke away heading into the halftime break with a 23-point lead. They continue to build up their lead to large as 42 points. Coach Liam Connelly was able to distribute minutes all across the roster with everyone logging at least 10 minutes. Seven players scored at least 9 points in this game for New Zealand with Imani Rasmussen leading the way with 11 points. She'd also get a double-double with 10 rebounds, while nearly getting a triple-double with 7 steals.
Samoa's Kalena Hogben led all scorers with 19 points, going 8-15 in the process for the losing side.
Fiji also cruised to a comfortable 61-45 win, although they had to get out of a four-point deficit early in the first quarter. After getting the lead back, they never looked back all the way to the finish line.
Zara Suka drew attention in her first game with 27 points with 9 coming from the charity stripe and 8 rebounds. She got the support down low from Makaefa Savu who had 16 rebounds.
The Cook Islands were limited to a seven-player rotation, leaving Hayven Selby and Cassidy Karika. Both recorded double-doubles with Selby putting up 18 points and 13 rebounds while Karika scored 16 points to go with 19 boards and 4 steals.
A double-header played simultaneously at the AIS Arena and the AIS Basketball Hall closed out the action in the day with Australia getting 123-27 win over Guam and Tonga rushing to an 80-43 victory.
It took just five seconds for the Sapphires to get on the scoreboard by a basket from Daisy Hocking and they never left their foot off the pedal from there on out. Australia finished the first quarter 30-0 and managed three other quarters of scoring at least 30 points to come away with the victory.
With six players scoring in double-digits, Australia were able to collect 31 assists in this game. Sophie Richardson led the Sapphires with 16 points while also getting 8 rebounds. Isabel Smith was the lone player to record a double-double of 11 points and 10 boards, while Lily Mapp dominated the glass with 15 rebounds.
Guam's Lana Quinata, however, lead all players in scoring with 17 points for Guam.
For Tonga, it wasn't until the second half before their were able to feel comfortable about heading towards their victory. The score remained closed throughout the first half, only seeing a separation later towards the halftime buzzer where Tonga held a seven-point lead. Tonga benefited from that break and roared their way to their biggest lead in the game of 37 points which would be their margin of victory.
Leisiale Subrianas willed her way to 18 points for New Caledonia and grabbed 8 rebounds in the process, but it was not enough to overcome the turnovers forced by Tonga.
Hunivaololo Folau forced a bulk of those turnovers with 10 steals, finishing with a double-double to go with 11 points. Three other players score in double-digits with Emeli Langi leading Tonga with 16 points.
Upcoming Games - November 12:
Samoa v Australia - Local Time: 02:00 PM (GMT+11) Fiji v Tonga - Local Time: 04:30 PM (GMT+11) New Caledonia v Cook Islands - Local Time: 05:00 PM (GMT+11) Guam v New Zealand - Local Time: 07:30 PM (GMT+11)
FIBA