FIBA U18 Asian Championship: Indian women go down fighting to New Zealand

For a third time in a row, India got off the blocks in a sluggish manner to trail 9-17 at the end of the first quarter before NZ went ahead by 36-23 in the second

Two teams with two losses in their kitty and desperately in need of a win faced each other in their last Division A, Group A league match of the FIBA U-18 Women's Asian Championship.

New Zealand came into the match being the better team on paper while India were entering the court with new-found confidence following spirited performances despite defeats. This added with some home support ensured that the hosts had done well to bridge the gap to put themselves on par with the Kiwis at the start of the tie.

Now that the clash had turned into a battle of equals, the result came down to the team not grabbing the many opportunities presented to finish as the losing side. It was a bitter pill the hosts had to swollow as poor conversion rate of free throws took the game away from India in a 66-63 loss to the New Zealanders.

The statistics had India on the upper hand in 2-pointers (43 per cent-42 per cent) and 3-pointers (24 per cent-22 per cent). But the free throws read a dismal 19 per cent-89 per cent - India making 3 out of 16 chances while their opponents scoring 15/18.

Also Read | Sprightly India go down to South Korea in FIBA U-18 Women's Asian Championship

For the third time in a row, India got off the blocks in a sluggish manner to trail 9-17 at the end of the first quarter before NZ went ahead by 36-23 in the second.

Once again, the slow starters changed gears after halftime. A more 'in-sync' India scored field goals even as the horrid free-throw show continued to finish at 47-51 in the third quarter.

With eight minutes left on the clock, the hosts equalised 53-53 for the first time in the match. Amidst loud cheers, the visitors managed to nose ahead before captain Sathya Krishnamurti shot a 3-pointer to level 63-63 at three minutes remaining. Mackenzie Chatfield replied with a 2-point driving layup a few moments later for the Kiwi's to go ahead.

Sathya, one of the many catalysts in the fight back, committed an intentional foul in the dying moments to award two free throws which their top-scorer Aria Cowley capitalised to give New Zealand a 3-point victory.

Manmeet Kaur with 21 points and 12 rebounds was the top performer for the home side along with Sathya (15 pts) and point guard Deepthi Raja (14 pts) making key contributions. India face Indonesia today in a must-win 7-8th placing match to avoid getting relegated to Division B.

In the other Division A, Group A match, Australia defeated Korea 96-66 to directly move into the semifinal. Whereas, defending champs China suffered their second consecutive loss by going down to Japan 59-76 while Chinese Taipei thrashed Indonesia 81-16.