Defense prevails as Opals beat Brazil in clash of favorites

BELEM (Brazil) – Australia solidify their status as the tournament favorite by defeating Brazil, 60-55, Thursday night in front of a raucous crowd at Arena Guilherme Paraense.

 

With the dramatic victory, Sandy Brondello’s squad now sit atop the FIBA Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Belem and is now closer to earning a berth in the 2024 Olympic Games.

 

 

Turning point: The final two minutes of the game had just about every ingredient possible. With 1:51 to go in regulation, Kamilla Cardoso made a layup to tie the game at 55.

 

With exactly 1:00 remaining, Cayla George drained a huge three-pointer - her first of the night after three misses - to give Australia a 58-55 lead. Damiris Dantas and Bec Allen then traded missed baskets.

 

With the possession clock off, Brazil got a couple of good looks but Leila Zabani missed a layup and then Ezi Magbegor sealed the deal with a massive block on Cardoso. Tess Magden made a layup at the buzzer for the final score.

TCL Player of the Game: Ezi Magbegor made her first 7 baskets without a miss and led Australia with 18 points. She added 7 rebounds, a steal and 4 blocks, including the game-winning rejection.

 

Bec Allen went 4-6 from beyond the arc to finish with 14 points. She also had 7 rebounds and 4 assists for the Opals.

Dantas (11 points and 5 rebounds), Cardoso (10 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists) and Zabani (10 points on 2-4 from beyond the arc) scored in double digits for Brazil.

Stats don’t lie: Australia led by as many as 14 points in the first half before Brazil roared back to take the lead early in the fourth quarter. The final stat sheet reflected how close of a game it was: Australia won the rebounding battle, 42-35, while Brazil scored more points in the paint, 22-20.

These teams were about even in turnovers (17 for Brazil, 16 for Australia) and both shot under 40 percent from the field. Australia shot better at the line (87.5 percent) but Brazil made more free throws (10 vs. 7).

In the end, Australia made a couple more three-pointers (9 vs. 7) and played better defense down the stretch to walk away victorious.

Bottom line: As the No. 3 team in the world according to the FIBA Women’s Rankings Presented by Nike, Australia came into the tournament as a heavy favorite. Some key injuries forced head coach Brondello to adjust the roster, but today proved they still have plenty of firepower.

Australia won five consecutive Olympic medals between 1996 and 2012 but were eliminated in the Quarterfinals in both Rio de Janeiro 2016 and Tokyo 2020. With a great blend of youth and experience, their goal of getting back to the Games and fighting for a medal is closer than ever.

They said: “Very relieved to have won. Could’ve gone either way. I think it was a fantastic atmosphere. The Brazilians certainly rose to the occasion and had great fan support. They played tough. They’ve improved since the last time we played them greatly. Coach has done a good job and they’ve had a fair bit of preparation in terms of the way they played with their chemistry. We have not, and I think that showed a little bit. We had to grind it out, so I was really proud of the girls to buckle down in the 4th quarter. It wasn’t pretty but we got stops and Cayla George made a big three at the end. We’re happy that we won but we know we need to be better to beat the next team.”

 

“This is what we’ve come to expect from Ezi. She’s still very young but obviously a key player for what we want to do on both ends of the floor. Those two stops at the end, that was will and timing and she has this ability to do great things. Offensively we wanted to get her in the action. I thought Brazil’s defense was good and they gave us the 3. They congested a little bit, we had silly, and we showed our lack of chemistry and togetherness. It’s the first game we’ve had since the World Cup with this group, but we have to be better.” - Australia head coach Sandy Brondello.

“We knew coming into Game 1 that it was going to be tough playing against the home nation. The fans really showed out and it was fun a fun environment to play in. I think we just found a way to win when things weren’t going our way, when the offense is kind of drying out. We know we had to go to our defense, and I think that’s what won us the game, especially in the 4th quarter, and Cayla’s big three got us across the line. First game of the tournament, we have 2 games left so we need to adjust quickly and on the fly and prepare for Games 2 and 3.” - Australia forward Ezi Magbegor 

“First of all, I want to congratulate Australia for their win. I believe they played (well) on defense. They only allowed our team to score 55 points. They could stop all of our big players: Damiris, Kamilla on the paint and we couldn’t play with her there. We didn’t play our best game. We couldn’t play in transition and run the floor. Right now, we need to think about the next game. In this tournament, we can’t stop in this moment right now. We need to prepare better for Saturday. Serbia is a great team.” - Brazil head coach José Neto

“I think it was a tough loss for us because we had a bad moment in the game, but we showed resilience, and we were able to make good plays and the game was very (even) at the end. At the end we had some bad decisions and we lost, but I think it was a good game for us to show everybody that we can play with every team in this competition. Right now, we’re kind of sad because of the loss but we have to change ourselves because we have 2 more finals to come.” - Brazil forward Leila Zabani

 

FIBA