The Jayco Gems are two from two in their 2015 FIBA U19 World Championships campaign, defeating Brazil 62-48.
In a tight contest that belied the final scoreline, Brazil trailed by just two point (46-44) with a little over seven minutes remaining. The Gems scored 10 of the next 11 points in the game to jump into the driver’s seat and get home with the victory.
“This was always going to be a tougher game,” said coach Paul Goriss. “Brazil’s size, disruptive defence and passion caused us to play too quick. We were out of sync offensively and failed to convert both field goals and from the foul line. Brazil were doing a great job defensively and we struggled to adjust. We had too many unforced turnovers and we didn’t keep our spacing.”
Australia collected 23 offensive rebounds and Brazil gave up an eye-popping 32 turnovers. Lauren Scherf and Alanna Smith shared 24 points, with the former adding seven boards and the latter claiming six rebounds, four steals and three blocks before fouling out.
“We made some adjustments to our defence at the half trying to force more pressure on the ball and be more assertive,” said Goriss. “It was a grind of a game and these are what world championships about, adjusting to different styles and turning up to play.
“Our last quarter showed our composure and ability to play to our strength. The girls had a great final five minutes.”
Box scores from the game against Brazil can be found here.
The Gems will next face South Korea on Tuesday, Monday a rest day in Russia.
Watch the full game via the FIBA YouTube channel:
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