Asia Cup: Opals secure dominant victory over Korea

The Australian Opals faced the Korean national team in a do or die clash in the FIBA women’s basketball Asia Cup on Friday night at Sydney Olympic Sports Centre.

The mission for the Opals was simple, win and face powerhouse China in the next round or lose and watch the rest of the tournament from the stands.

Australia were odds on favourites with online bookmakers for the clash paying $1.01 and they made up for their mistakes in their loss to Japan, going on to win the elimination semi-final by 27 points with the final score 91-64.

They will now play China in the next round with tip off at 7:30PM AEST on Saturday, following the other elimination game between five-time defending title holders Japan and New Zealand.

Australian national women’s coach Shannon Seebohm went with the starting five of Darcee Garbin, Alice Kunek, Tess Madgen, Maddi Rocci and Lauren Scherf.

Forward Darcee Garbin sank two three pointers in the first two minutes to help the Opals take control.

At the end of the first quarter the Australians led 31-16 with Scherf leading the way with nine points and five rebounds.

Australia’s control of the game continued in the second quarter outscoring the Koreans 21-17 and extended their lead to 19 points.

At the main break the Opals held a commanding 52-33 lead with Garbin (11 points) and Scherf (14 points) proving hard to contain.

The third quarter was won by the Koreans 21-19, thanks to Sohee Lee sinking two three pointers and Inyoung Yang with 8 points and two blocks, however the Opals would head into the final break as 17-point leaders.

Australia were not going to lose another quarter and wanted to put this game to bed as they planned for the next round clash with China.

They sank eleven unanswered points to start the final quarter to maintain the upper hand and take the margin out of reach for the Koreans.

Lauren Scherf led the way throughout the clash and flirted with a double double with 14 points and nine rebounds.

Scherf was supported by Tess Madgen (14 points), Keely Froling (13 points) and Darcee Garbin (11 points) as the other Opals in double figures.

The Opals will face now face China on Saturday night, where the Opals are $1.97 outsiders as they look to progress to the final of the FIBA Asia Cup.

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