SHENZHEN (China) - Australia are bound for the big stage once again after booking their ticket to the FIBA U19 Women's Basketball World Cup 2025.
The Gems accomplished as much after securing the first Semi-Final seat in the FIBA U18 Women's Asia Cup 2024 following a 90-67 victory over the hard-fighting Chinese Taipei on Wednesday at the Longhua Cultural and Sports Center.
Mentored by Kristen Veal, the esteemed program has not missed the U19 Women's World Cup since its inception back in 1985 in the United States.
Australia are the first team from this year's U18 Women's Asia Cup to reach the global showpiece, which is set to take place in the Czech Republic. The three others will be determined soon as a total of four tickets are allocated for Asia.
Game heroes: Saffron Shiels set the pace in the triumph with 22 points on 52.6-percent shooting and 14 rebounds for a game-high efficiency (EFF) of 27.
Lara Somfai came through with her own double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Bonnie Deas supplied 11 points and 7 rebounds, while Monique Bobongie added 10 and 6 in the victory that saw all 12 players get on the scoreboard.
Turning point: The trio of Deas, Somfai, and Bobongie joined hands for a 12-0 run for a 15-2 lead late in the opening frame and Australia would stay ahead all the way.
Stats don't lie: Still, it was never a smooth-sailing ride for the crew the whole time, as Chinese Taipei doubled down on defense and forced the Gems to commit a total of 22 turnovers. They just, however, couldn't convert on easy baskets inside.
That, of course, boded well for Australia, who went on to finish the Group Phase as the no. 1 seed of Group A with an immaculate 3-0 win-loss record.
Finishing second and third in the group are Korea (2-1) and Chinese Taipei (1-2), with Malaysia the first to get eliminated from playoff contention after going 0-3.
FIBA