SHENZHEN (China) - Korea accomplished their goal of returning to the FIBA U18 Women's Asia Cup Semi-Finals following an 86-66 wire-to-wire victory over New Zealand, Friday evening at the Longhua Cultural and Sports Center.
The proud program missed the Semis in the previous edition in 2022 but showed how much they have learned from that campaign, going off to a hot start that saw them catch fire from deep - dictating the pace all the way to the end.
By advancing to the Semis, Korea have booked a trip to the FIBA U19 Women's Basketball World Cup 2025 as well, joining Australia and China. The fourth and last ticket from the region will be disputed by Japan and Chinese Taipei later in the night.
Game heroes: Lee Minji led the Koreans with a game-high 25 points as she made 6 of the team's 12 3-pointers. She also had 8 rebounds and 2 assists.
Jeong Hyun nailed 4 treys for 16 points, along with 5 rebounds and 5 assists. Lee Wonjung had 14 points and 8 assists as Song Yunha added 12 points and 9 rebounds, which she laced with 5 assists, 4 steals, and 1 block for an efficiency of 28.
Turning point: The crew opened the game with 8 straight points and soon, the gap would become 27-7 late in the quarter as they went on a tear from the outside. They headed into a the next frame with a 32-12 lead as they nailed 5 triples.
Korea would lead by as many as 29 points. New Zealand did try to fight back in the final chapter but could only do so much, with Hyun nailing the dagger from the outside with under a minute left to play to re-establish their lead to 20, 83-63.
Stats don't lie: Coach Kang Byungsoo and Co. did lose the rebounding battle, 29-46, but were better offensively as evidenced by their 27 assists. They did their part on the other end, too, with 16 steals, which caused much of their foes' 28 turnovers.
FIBA