A tenacious defense that showed an even fight even in situations where 3-point shots could not be made
Haru Owaki, who scored 23 points and gained momentum in a difficult period
The U19 Women’s Japan National Team, who made it to the quarterfinals of the FIBA U19 Women’s Basketball World Cup 2023, will face France in the quarterfinals. We won 68-62 in the ninth-place match, which was the last game of the previous tournament, and we had a practice match before this tournament, so we knew our characteristics. However, despite Japan’s success in winning the match with an average of 12.8 3-point shots, today they are suffering from lack of accuracy.
After the 3rd quarter, Japan chasing 6 points with 49-55. We were able to continue our excellent defense by inviting violations and offensive fouls for 24 seconds. We took advantage of that opportunity to catch up and close the gap to three points, but it was difficult to decide the next one. In addition, the rebound was taken by France, who has three 190 cm players, and they conceded a goal from the second shot. However, at 1:24 in the 4th quarter, Haruka Yamamoto (2nd year student at Ritsumeikan University) scored a 3-point shot at the last minute and succeeded in turning the game around to 66-65. In the remaining time, both teams continued to score points, but with 42 seconds remaining, they gave the opponent a free throw, giving them a 2-point lead of 67-69.
Japan, who had been losing in rebounding, showed their concentration at the end, with Owaki Haru (2nd year student at Tokyo Medical and Health University) and Sasaka Mitsusaki (2nd year student at Shirao University) leading the charge with offensive rebounds. With 9 seconds remaining, Sasaka received a foul and scored two free throws to tie the score at 69-69. France’s 3-point shot missed and the game went into overtime. Against Japan, who can only score with free throws, France allowed consecutive goals to open up the lead. At the end, Owaki succeeded in making his fifth point shot as a team.
We lost, but the battle against the world continues. They will move on to the 5th-8th place play-off and fight the loser of the USA vs Czech Republic, which will be held after this. Although it will be a short time, we will change our minds and aim for 5th place, which is the highest place we can aim for as a team.
2023-07-21 13:41:01
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