Thailand's late-game rally earn hosts third place finish
BANGKOK (Thailand) - Thailand redeem themselves with a 66-52 win over Jordan to take Third Place in the FIBA Women's Asia Cup 2023 Division B at home in Bangkok.
BANGKOK (Thailand) - Thailand redeem themselves with a 66-52 win over Jordan to take Third Place in the FIBA Women's Asia Cup 2023 Division B at home in Bangkok.
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It was another exciting game for the hosts that had to come from behind by as much as 9 points before getting a solid hand on the lead in the latter part of the fourth quarter. Thailand's starting five all finished each with at least 7 points led by Rattiyakorn Udomsuk who had 17 points in total.
Jordan were without their two injured stars, Aisha Sheppard and Marya Al Hinn, and were shouldered by the play of Liliana Abu Jbara who had 14 points and 12 rebounds.
Turning point: As the game entered the final five-minute stretch, both teams simply could not find the bottom of the net for a full 2 minutes. This was to the advantage of Thailand who were holding a 53-50 and they only got more comfortable when Rattiyakorn Udomsuk broke the silence by scoring on a putback basket heading into the last 3 minutes.
Thailand ended the game with a 16-2 run to claim their home victory.
Player of the Game: As she had done throughout the tournament, Thunchanok Lumdappang was the all-around star for Thailand in this game. The 23-year-old center delivered her highest EFF of the competition so far with 31 which accounted for 15 points, 13 rebounds, 3 assists, and 4 steals.
Stats Don't Lie: It was once again another game where Thailand were able to continuously force the ball out of the hands of their opponents, forcing Jordan to commit 25 turnovers. That has been their bread and butter and they were able to convert those turnovers into 16 points.
Bottom line: Both teams only narrowly missed out on making it to the Final and getting a chance to get promoted to Division A, but they showed here why they will be back in 2025 as contenders. Thailand have young players who can still improve and Jordan displayed that they are just more than their stars. They'll be counting down the days until the next Women's Asia Cup Division B.
FIBA