The Australian Opals time in Berlin has come to an end with a 23 point defeat against Spain in the quarterfinals.
Australia were essentially playing with house money with Ezi Magbegor’s injury and Jade Melbourne’s absence due to flu announced pre-game.
Ultimately, they weren't able to stem the offensive power of Spain's weapons but mounted a spirited comeback to draw within 13 in the last quarter.
It's not the way anyone would or could have envisaged the outcome of this tournament in Berlin, but a crucial learning experience for a young group with LA28 ahead.
FIBA Match Centre and Boxscore available here
Q1
Steph Reid got the start at guard, Alex Fowler came in for Issy Bourne and Zitina Aokuso for Magbegor.
The game got off to a very positive start with Reid dropping three quickfire threes before Spain realised they needed to take her space away.
The Spanish team started to cook Australia sitting back in a shell defense with their combination of bigs, Awa Fam and Megan Gustafson. Their dominance led to a rapid 16-point lead in the first quarter.
Talbot got a bucket back to make it 31 – 17 to Spain at quarter time.
Q2
The Opals kept fighting, as they have all tournament, but they struggled to stem the flow of buckets against. They got looks on their own merit but the offense was far from it’s rapid, aggressive best.
Issy Borlase dropped a couple of threes and Steph Talbot kept at it. Spain found ways to the basket with their many weapons and extended to a 24-point lead. A buzzer-beating three-pointer from Ally Wilson put a bit of oxygen back into the team at the main break.
Q3
A fair bit needed to change with the Opals approach in the second half and there was an uplift in intensity on defense. Australia managed to take away the easy buckets under the ring at all costs and it kept the 20+ point margin within it’s means.
The real pain point was moving the ball effectively and getting into the offense. Something that hadn’t been a problem all tournament. Spain began to hammer the player in possession and made it increasingly difficult to get decent looks.
Spain led by 19 points at the final break.
Q4
With nothing to lose. The Opals made it a mission to go down swinging.
They managed to freeze Spain’s offense and started to let it rip, from three and in the passing game. Ally Wilson started to find her range and rhythm from long range. The difference was narrowed 13 with 5:10 to play and it felt that the momentum was shifting.
Unfortunately it was a short-lived window of a comeback. Regardless it was an enjoyable one. Spain must have seen the tape from the Australia vs Italy the night before because they made the right adjustments to slow it down and nullify the Opals momentum.
Spain took the game away to win by 23. The Opals time in Berlin comes to an end
