Australia’s Opals are a win away from a massive FIBA World Cup final against the mighty United States, but first need to get past China in tonight’s semi-final in Sydney.
The Opals have won their last five games at the World Cup, including a thumping win over Belgium in last night’s quarter-final, to guarantee they’ll be playing for a medal.
But to ensure that’s either gold or silver up for grabs, they’ll need to continue their revenge run from the Tokyo Olympics.
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The Aussies’ two group stage losses at the Games came against Belgium (already avenged) and China, the latter in extremely controversial fashion after a last-second foul.
The legendary Lauren Jackson had 12 points in 14 minutes against the Belgians as her remarkable comeback to the world stage at 41 years old continued.
Australia’s starting five was the same as the five against Belgium: Steph Talbot, Ezi Magbegor, Marianna Tolo, Sara Blicavs and Samantha Whitcomb.
An extremely loud crowd, thanks to a partisan Chinese contingent, watched a tight first quarter that saw the Opals lead 17-13, powered by Talbot, who had six points and four rebounds.
Bec Allen returned to the court late in the first quarter after a rib injury forced her to either miss, or barely feature in, previous games.
Tonight’s winner will face the USA in Saturday’s gold medal match, after the WNBA-star packed defending champions thumped Canada in their semi-final 83-43.
Australia lost to the USA in the 2018 World Cup final. The Americans haven’t lost a World Cup game since the 2006 semi-finals when they were stunned by Russia, with Australia beating the Russians to win gold.
