AYOF: Oceania fall to China

In a very physical contest, which produced 52 fouls and 45 turnovers, China, with their distinct height advantage and well spread scoring capability overpowered the Oceania women's team 81 to 63. Not to be outdone, the Oceania girls put up a commendable effort and had their starters not got into early foul trouble, the outcome could well have been different. The Chinese team learnt very quickly that they could not intimidate the Oceania girls with their physical style of play. The Oceania coaching staff and spectators were very pleased to see the Oceania girls standing up for themselves and playing aggressive basketball at both ends of the court. Except for the first quarter, which China led by 22 to 11, the remaining 3 quarters were evenly matched. With just 5 minutes from the end, Oceania was only 5 points down. However a couple of good three point shots from the Chinese in the dying minutes put the game beyond Oceania's reach. Notable contributions for Oceania were from nippy point guard and floor leader Valerie Nainima who scored 30 points despite playing with a bruised elbow for the entire second half of the game. Sera Colata and Soana Lucet both played very strongly, more than matching the physical game of the Chinese girls. Sera scored 13 points while Soana contributing 9 points. Maea Lextreyt once again showed her outstanding defensive skills, keeping the outside scoring of the Chinese team to a minimum, and scoring 5 valuable points for Oceania. Once again this was a sterling effort from a team that has come together only a week ago.
Oceania will now square up against the New Zealanders tomorrow in the bronze medal playoff. With a win over New Zealand earlier in the competition, the Oceania girls are concentrating on repeating that result and making history again for the regional All Star team.