FIBA U19W - France bounces back into title contention on Day Five

PUERTO MONTT (2011 FIBA U19 World Championship for Women) - With a dominant first three quarters and a gritty performance down the stretch, France has issued a statement about its intentions at the FIBA U19 World Championship for Women.

The French raced to a 10-point halftime lead and extended that to 17 midway through the third term. Brazil's brilliance came to the fore though, and they surged to be within two points with less than five minutes remaining in the game.

France then steadied to record a 67-55 victory in Puerto Varas and give them a chance to claim second position in Group F. Valeriane Ayayi led the way with 15 points and Adja Konteh had 12 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists. Damiris Dantas scored 25 points and pulled in 11 rebounds for Brazil.

Australia withstood a furious charge from Spain to record a hard fought 65-61 victory and put one foot in first place of Group F. The Gems led by 10 points just before halftime but surrendered the lead in the third quarter after Astou Ndour (17 points, 13 rebounds) and Laura Gil (14 points, 7 rebounds) took charge in the paint.
 
Rebecca Allen stood tall after Australia had fallen seven points behind in the last quarter, nailing two massive triples to get the Gems back in touch. From there Rebecca Cole and Gretel Tippett (15 points, 10 rebounds) secured the victory.

Canada kept themselves in the race for first place in Group E with a strong 68-60 victory over Japan. At halftime, with Canada leading 41-29 the game looked headed for a blow out. Japan continued to surprise though, surging back to take the lead in the third quarter.

Behind the outstanding play of Wumi Agunbiade (21 points, 10 rebounds), the Canadians settled to reclaim the lead and then strangle Japan with a 13-8 final term. Dynamic point guard Rui Machida nearly recorded a triple-double with 15 points, 11 assists and 8 rebounds, while Sanae Motokawa scored 20 points.

After a slow start Russia produced a fighting 65-53 win over China, led by Ksenia Tikhonenko's 20 points and 8 rebounds. China were led by centre Dong Yu with 13 points.

The USA kept their unbeaten run alive with a 94-60 demolition of Italy, setting up a mouth watering clash with Canada for first place in Group E. Cierra Burdick had 17 points and 9 rebounds for the USA, and Irene Cigliani scored 11 points for the Italians.

Chinese Taipei recorded their second win of the tournament, easily accounting for hosts Chile 66-41. Jung-Hsing Liu led the way with 17 points and 8 rebounds, while I-Hsiu Cheng had 14 points and 7 rebounds.
 
In the playoff for 13th position, Argentina extended a one-point lead with five minutes remaining into an 89-69 victory over Slovenia, thanks to Melisa Gretter, who recorded 25 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals.

Slovenian star Nika Baric returned from injury and was superb with 27 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists.

Paulo Kennedy

FIBA