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Australian Opals vs China |
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|---|---|---|
Women's FIBA World Cup, quarter-final. Time: Q4 1 |
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| Santiago Martin Arena, San Cristobal de La Laguna, Spain | ||
| Australia | China | |
| 83 | SCORE | 42 |
| 24 | Q1 | 7 |
| 18 | Q2 | 11 |
| 19 | Q3 | 16 |
| 22 | Q4 | 8 |
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The Australian Opals have been dominant at the women’s World Cup so far, but will run into their strongest challenge yet against China in the quarter-finals. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 11pm (AEST).
The Opals came out of their group at the top of the tree, having compiled an impressive resume of three straight wins against Nigeria, Argentina and Turkey.
They dealt with every challenge which came their way and in the end, none of their matches had them under pressure during the fourth quarter as they ran away with big wins.
Liz Cambage has been the key for Australia. She has been dominant in the paint during each performance, but it’s her ability to draw fouls and stretch the floor which has been most impressive.
With the paint locked down and a defence unable to stretch to the perimeter, it’s allowed shooters like Cayla George, Steph Talbot, Tess Madgen and Alanna Smith to light up.
When Cambage has been on the bench, Australia have kept similar levels of domination through Ezi Magbegor.
Against the smaller defensive outfit of China, Cambage and Magbegor could have a field day.
China had to play an extra game after finishing in second place out of Group D, falling to the USA in one of their pool games.
While there is no shame in that, the game showed exactly where their defensive shortcomings will be as we get to the big matches of the tournament.
They were extremely solid in their quarter-final qualifier though, getting the better of Japan by six points in what was a physical encounter.
What they will need to do though is recover. Australia, by far the fitter side, have now had two days off in between games, so they will ram home any advantage they may have during the second half.
With the Opals likely to dominate the glass, a fast start should see them put it on cruise control during the second half of the match.
Prediction
China will present a tougher challenge and take some confidence out of their last-start victory to keep the tournament alive, but challenging the Opals is a different brand of challenge – one they won’t be able to handle.
Opals by 13.
Be sure to join The Roar for live coverage of this quarter-final from 11pm (AEST) and don’t forget to add a comment in the section below.
Tip-off: 11pm (AEST)
Venue: Santiago Martin Arena, San Cristobal de La Laguna, Spain
TV: Live, Fox Sports
Online: Live, Foxtel app, Foxtel now
Referees: TBC
Australia (expected)
Point guard: Katie Ezbery
Shooting guard: Cayla George
Small forward: Steph Talbot
Power forward: Bec Allen
Centre: Liz Cambage
Bench: Jenna O’Hea, Tess Madgen, Alanna Smith, Alex Bunton, Ezi Magbegor, Tess Lavey, Samantha Whitcomb
China (expected)
Point guard: Yuan Li
Shooting guard: Meng Li
Small forward: Ting Shao
Power forward: Yueru Li
Centre: Jiacen Liu
Bench: Xu Han, Sijing Huang, Xueya Ma, Mengran Sun, Siyu Wang, Xuemeng Wang, Liwei Yang
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