SHENZHEN (China) - A strong start enabled Korea to hand Chinese Taipei a 75-63 beatdown for a successful campaign opener in the FIBA U18 Women's Asia Cup 2024-Division A, Monday at the Longhua Cultural and Sports Center.
The crew took control of the game in the first quarter before pulling away for good in the ensuing chapter on the way to sharing Group A leadership with Australia, who flat-out dominated Malaysia by way of a 124-38 result earlier in the day.
Interestingly, both teams will be meeting one another on Tuesday at 14:00 local time for the solo lead of the pool - and to move closer to the Semi-Finals.
Game heroes: Choi Yeseul paced Korea with 19 points and 10 rebounds, together with an assist, 2 steals, and 3 blocks on her way to tallying an efficiency of 28.
Song Yunha delivered her own double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Jeong Hyun scored 12 points as well, alongside 8 rebounds and 5 assists. Lee Minji supplied 10 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, and 4 steals in the victory.
Turning point: Korea led by seven with less than eight minutes left in the second, and that proved the last time that Chinese Taipei would get close to single digits.
Behind their solid shooting from the outside, the Koreans went on a tear that their foes couldn't match, eventually heading into the half up by two decades, 47-27.
Stats don't lie: The much taller Koreans imposed their presence inside and went to win the battle of the boards, 53-42. They were also much better as a team in involving the others, as evidenced by their 23 assists - seven more than their opponents.
FIBA