Japan claims FIBA Asia Cup for Women

Saori Miyazaki

Japan claimed their fifth successive FIBA Asia Cup for Women on Sunday at the Prince Hamza Arena, fending off China, 78-73.

The Olympic silver medalists extricated themselves out of a sticky situation in the fourth quarter, scoring twelve straight points to cancel a seven-point deficit and establish a 64-59 lead with six minutes to go.

China would answer back to tie things up at 66, capped by a Sijin Huang triple with just over four minutes remaining.

From then on, it was a nip and tuck battle, with China even taking the lead at 73-72 after a Liwei Yang layup with 62 seconds left.

However, Japan took the lead for good with Saori Miyazaki finding Monica Okoye open for an and-1 layup with 44 seconds to go, putting them on top. 74-73.

Okoye would miss the bonus free throw, but more than made up for it by blocking Liwei's layup attempt with 31 seconds remaining.

China had a chance to tie the game after two Miyazaki free throws made it 76-73, but Sijin missed a triple with eight seconds left. Himawari Akaho secured the miss for her eighth rebound, with Miyazaki icing the game with two more free throws for the final score.

Miyazaki finished with 26 points and eleven assists, with Okoye adding 21 markers.

Sijing Huang led China with 18 points, while Yueru Li added sixteen and eleven rebounds.

The third place game saw Australia demolish Korea, 88-58 to secure their third straight podium finish.

Opals skipper Sami Whitcomb almost netted a triple-double with fifteen points, nine rebounds, and eight assists, with Darcee Garbin adding fourteen points.

Up next for all four nations is the FIBA Women's World Cup Qualifying Tournament, where the field for the 2022 FIBA Women's World Cup will be determined.