New Zealand and Samoa Set to Face-Off in Semis

MANGILAO (Guam) – New Zealand and Samoa both posted wins in the quarter finals to set up an epic showdown between the two teams in the semis tomorrow.

New Zealand came out with purpose in the first quarter final to defeat host nation, Guam, 99-51.

The kiwis flew out of the blocks and did not look back, with six players shooting double figures including Sophia Hickey who finished up with a double-double, 15 points and 13 rebounds.

“It was really good, we pushed the ball really well which was our game plan,” Hickey said.  “We watched a lot of game film on the things we needed to work on, and we applied that today.”

Looking ahead to the semi-finals and potential medal matches on Saturday, Hickey said the team are remaining focused, “We will aim to stay grounded, stay focused and think and plan ahead as best as possible.  It’s so cool being here (at the Championships in Guam), versing different countries and the talent that they have is super cool.”

Pahyyss Hokianga-Heather was also impressive with Emma Rogers and Keija Miringaorangi stepping up from the bench to also be amongst the top performers.

For Guam, Sazzanei Phayre Quintanilla was a stand-out, sinking 22 points with 5 rebounds and 2 steals.

New Zealand will now play Samoa in the semi finals tomorrow with Guam up against Australia.

In a dominant display, Samoa breezed past Northern Mariana Islands (NMI) in the second quarter final, 135-26.

Mia Pacion Abuan shot 12 points for NMI and tried her hardest, but it was not enough up against the might of Samoa.  In an outstanding team performance, the Samoans impressed across the stats sheet with Nahala Teleiu finishing with a double-double, 16 points and 10 rebounds and LÓreal Hiko and Sina Oliva both scoring plus 20.

“We did well on defense today, protected the ball and looked after our passes,” Oliva said.  “We use these games to help up verse harder teams like New Zealand and Australia and try not to get ahead of ourselves because we know the other team can come back at any time.”

Ahead of the semifinal showdown with New Zealand, Oliva stressed the importance of winning well today, “We use games like this to prepare, we will look back at last game (against New Zealand) and learn from that too so, less fouls, keeping our hands out and to watch out turnovers.”

Representing your country is a honor for all players at the FIBA Under 15 Oceania Championships, and that sense of pride runs deep in Samoa and for Oliva, “It’s hard to explain, it’s so big you can’t imagine, these opportunities, you don’t always get to represent your country and culture, we want to make Samoa basketball as big as New Zealand and Australia, we want to put Samoa up there.”

Semi-finals at the FIBA Under 15 Oceania Championship tip off at University of Guam, Calvo Field House tomorrow with Papua New Guinea playing Northern Mariana Islands at 11:15am, New Zealand taking on Samoa at 1:30pm and Australia up against Guam at 3:45pm local time.

The FIBA U15 Oceanian Championships serve as qualifiers for the FIBA U16 Asian Championships 2023 with the top two teams going through.  The FIBA U15 Oceania Championships will be hosted in Guam from November 21 to November 26 - Follow the event here

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