CANBERRA (Australia) - Samoa and Tonga make it through to the FIBA U15 Women's Oceania Cup 2024 Semi-Finals after collecting resounding wins.
Both teams are now qualified for FIBA U16 Women's Asia Cup 2025 along with New Zealand and Australia as Semi-Finalists.
Samoa were quick to make a statement in the 90-37 win over New Caledonia, leading by as much as 18 points in the opening quarter, setting the tone for the remainder of the game. They never saw the margin get back down to single digits from there on out.
All players scored a field goal for Samoa with four players reaching double-digits in points. While Zodia Folau was a point short of joining that group of double-digit scorers with 9 points, she impressed with an all-around performance of 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 7 steals.
New Caledonia were unable to keep the momentum going from their dramatic win over Fiji, though Leisiale Subiranas put in her best efforts with 16 points and 7 rebounds.
"It feels really amazing," said Levani Muliaumasealii. "So proud of our girls today, we've done really well and I couldn't be happier."
She said of her double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds: "I couldn't have done it without my teammates, if I didn't have my team backing me then it wouldn't have been possible, really it's all them."
Samoa are turning to the U16 Women's Asia Cup where they won the Final of Division B in 2022 and played in Division A in 2023.
Tonga were also able to collect a Quarter-Final win, 89-64 over Guam. This capitalizes an outstanding debut in the U15 Women's Oceania Cup for Tonga as they not only make it to the Semi-Finals but qualify for the U16 Women's Asia Cup as well.
Tonga got up ahead just 8 seconds into the game and led throughout the entire way to the final buzzer. The tournament debutants have been on a tear and a key reason to their success has been the play of Hunivaololo Folau. The star guard put up an impressive game again with 13 points, 7 rebounds, and 14 assists, maintaining her status as the leader in assists in this competition. The team dished out 32 assists in total, while every player got on the scoreboard for Tonga.
Guam's Lana Quinata had a double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds in the loss.
The results of today's game sets up the bracket for the Semi-Finals. Samoa will face New Zealand at 11:30 AM (GMT +11) while Tonga will face Australia at 2:00 PM (GMT +11).
Upcoming Games - November 15
Classification 5-6: New Caledonia vs Guam - 9:00 AM (GMT +11) Semi-Finals : New Zealand v Samoa - 11:30 AM (GMT +11) Semi-Finals : Australia v Tonga - 2:00 PM (GMT +11) Classification 7-8: Fiji v Cook Islands - 7:30 PM (GMT +11)