ESP/AUS - Australia beat Spain to finish seventh

TOULOUSE (FIBA U17 World Championship for Women) – Australia cruised past Spain 74-48 to clinch seventh place at the FIBA U17 World Championship for Women in Toulouse.

The Spaniards displayed great creativity offensively from the very start, but were missing the all-important finishing touch.

The Australians also were not quite themselves, lacking the high-level energy they had displayed consistently earlier in the championship.

These deficiencies were apparent in a low-scoring first quarter, which ended with Spain leading 12-8.

Things livened up in the second period with Andrea Vilaro and Yurena Diaz spurring last year’s U16 European Champions on before Gretel Tippett and Tayla Roberts helped Australia take the ascendancy for a 30-24 halftime advantage.

Roberts – who finished with 25 points and 14 rebounds – spearheaded a 16-0 run in the first five minutes of the third quarter that saw Peter Lonergan’s side take a commanding 46-24 lead. Spain were outscored 20-5 in the period and trailed 50-29 heading into the final frame.

Victor Lapena’s side rediscovered some scoring punch in the final quarter, but by then it was too late.

Quotes

Peter Lonergan (Australia head coach): I have a lot of respect for Spain, they are one of the best basketball nations. I personally learned a lot from Spanish coaches. I don’t think their ranking actually reflects their real value. I’m proud of my team. These kinds of games are very hard to play because of emotion and sadness. We were tough and showed great spirit.

Victor Lapena (Spain head coach): Congratulations to Australia. We didn’t play the way we wanted to in the second half. It was the worst team of Spain we could have shown. It wasn’t the Spain that had ambitions for this competition.

FIBA/LOC