U17 Aussies smash Japan, book QF with USA

Australian broke the 100-point barrier on the way to a resounding victory over tournament hot-shots Japan at the 2012 FIBA Under 17 Women’s World Championship in Amsterdam on Thursday morning.

Alanna Smith drives to the basket

BOXSCORE

Coming off an impressive win over Turkey 24 hours prior, the Australian team made the most of different look Japanese squad to record a 100-66 victory and head into the Quarter Final stage on the back of consecutive wins.

Australia had four players hit double figures for the game with all 12 players scoring, led by Alanna Smith with an amazing stats line of 15 points, 7 rebounds and 9 blocks, while Keely Froling (13 points 6 rebounds) and sister Alicia (12 points 5 rebounds) were also impressive.

Having already booked their spot at the top of the group, Japan gave their starters the first five minutes of the game before pulling them out, resulting in a 15-0 lead to start the game. The Australian’s fought back late in the quarter to cut the deficit to just three points.

This is where the momentum swung firmly in the Australian direction as they went on to lead by six points at the half. It was one-way traffic after the main interval with the Australians outscoring their opponents 58-32.

It was a complete domination by the Australian team, producing their best shooting performance of the tournament (45-of-89 50.6%) and out-rebounding the Japanese 61-31, including 21 offensive boards.

The victory secured fourth place for the Australian team with a 3-2 record, meaning they will now face the ultimate test in their Quarter Final: the undefeated USA on Saturday morning at 5:15am AEST.