Women's U17 Oceania Round-up: New Caledonia outlast Cook Islands in overtime win

Noumea (New Caledonia) - Host New Caledonia squeaked past the Cook Islands in overtime, 62-54 for a triumphant debut win in the 2019 Oceania U17 Championships at the L'Arene De Sud in Noumea, New Caledonia.

After wasting a huge 11-point lead in the fourth quarter, New Caledonia made up for it with a dominant showing in the extra time, outscoring Cook Islands, 13-5.

Enola Noemie Sangarne logged in 14 points and six rebounds including the game-tying bucket in the last 18 seconds of the regulation to push New Caledonia into OT.

Leilani Tartas added 13 points and 13 rebounds while Celia Puleoto came away with 12 markers and 15 boards of his own for solid support to Enola.

Behind a wild home crowd, New Caledonia managed to build a 35-24 lead after three quarters. But the Cook Islands found its mark, unleashing a 25-14 run capped off by Tikara Jallow basket for a 49-47 lead before Sangarne connected a game-tying bucket.

Penina Hinatea had 12 while Tikara Jallow and Breana Schmid contributed 11 each in a losing cause for the visiting Cook Islands.

New Zealand beats Samoa, 93-35

New Zealand U17 squad smothered Samoa, 93-35, to open its 2019 FIBA U17 Oceania Championship with a bang.

NZ took a 27-10 first-quarter lead and never looked back on its way to a roaring debut. Arielle Williams paced the squad with 17 points, six rebounds, three assists, and two steals.

Olivia Williams added 16 markers and four boards while Caitlin O'Connel and Elia Cook put up 11 and 10 more, respectively for NZ which outmatched Samoa in rebounding (59-41), points off turnovers (37-8), inside points (54-7) and bench points (44-8).

Shayle Coulter-Faamafu dropped 11 points and nine rebounds in a losing effort for Samoa. No other player backed her up with Charlize Lealiiee settling for just eight points.

Australia beats Guam, 144-9

Australia U17 squad got off to a historic start, scoring a massive 144-9 romp over Guam in Day 1.

Australia jumped past Guam with a 47-0 opening salvo to take the fight out of its foe right from the get-go en route to a huge 135-point win.

All players scored for the Aussies with eight tallying double figures led by Shaneice Swain with 21 points, eight assists, and five steals.

Olivia Pollerd added 20 markers and six boards while Kelsey Rees, Millie Prior, and Kate Deeble chipped in 18, 17 and 16, respectively.

Shooting 79 percent from the field and 43 percent from downtown, Australia was too much to handle for Guam as it was miles above in every category like assists (27-1), rebounds (53-7) and steals (23-3).

Australia also committed just 12 errors while forcing Guam to 47. Alana Salas put up five points to serve as a bright spot in Guam's loss.

Tahiti beat Papua New Guinea, 78-29

Tahiti U17 squad hardly encountered resistance from Papua New Guinea, taking a 78-29 win for a rousing debut.

Hereiti Keany Viriamu put up 15 points, three rebounds, and six steals in just 21 minutes of action to lead the way for Tahiti which raced to a 25-7 lead that paved the way in this dominating win.

Hereiti Salem chipped in 12 while Tearere Richmond and Kuranui Doyen-Etaeta contributed 11 each in a well-scattered Tahiti attack.

Aside from offense though, Tahiti also stamped its class on the defensive end, forcing PNG to 62 turnovers which they converted to 44 points.

Tahiti also had wide advantages in steals (25-15), assists (20-3) and rebounds (50-39). Magdalene Javapro logged in 15 points to be the only twin-digit scorer for PNG.

FIBA