Wednesday at U20’s Nationals saw the women’s quarterfinal games control all of the action, with the men getting a day off in preparation for their own quarterfinal games on Thursday. It was another exciting day of basketball in Perth: Starting with another incredible individual performance by Alicia Froling, and ending with a dominant effort on both sides of the floor by Victoria.

Credit: Kangaroo Photos

Alicia Froling’s 20-20 game leads QLD over SA

After having an off game on Tuesday against NSW (12 pts, 2/18 FG), Froling was determined to bounce back. She did just that in Queensland’s quarterfinal game against SA, posting 20 pts& 25 rbsas she led her team through to the semifinals. Although she shot just 6/20 from the floor and had 6 turnovers, Froling came up big defensively, while also making some big free-throws in the fourth quarter to seal the game.Queensland will face Victoria in the first semifinal on Friday.

NSW controls the boards once again for the easy win

NSW have done a masterful job rebounding the ball throughout this tournament. They lead all U20 Women’s teams in rebounding, averaging just under 60 rpg as a team. Wednesday’s game against New Zealand was no different. Led by Australian representative Alliyah Fareo’s 16 pts& 12 rbs, NSW pulled down 62 rebounds (27 offensive) on route to an 89-49 victory and a ticket to the semifinals. It’s also worth mentioning that Liisa Ups had a near triple-double (13 pts, 9 rbs, 8 asts), her consistent play throughout the tournament has been a big factor in NSW’s success thus far. NSW will face WA in the semifinals.

Antoniadou returns to form, leads VIC to the semifinals

After struggling in Wednesday’s game against WA, Rachel Antoniadou put on a brilliant performance that was overshadowed only by Victoria’s overall dominance in their win over ACT. Antoniadou had 27 pts (10/15 FG, 5/7 3pt) and 6 steals as Victoria got the 120-42 victory over ACT to advance to the semifinals. Victoria opened up the game strong once again – holding ACT to just 7 first quarter points, while putting up 30 of their own in the quarter. Victoria will face Queensland in the semifinals.

WA bests TAS for a place in the semifinals

Tasmania entered the game in high spirits after coming off a huge win over New Zealand on Tuesday. That hope was quickly extinguished as home team WA opened up the game on a 13-2 run. WA managed a 16-point lead at the end of the 1st Q and Tasmania was never able to get back into the game. An extremely solid effort by Jessie Edwards (20 pts, 9 rbs) who has quietly impressed all tournament. WA will face an undefeated NSW squad in the semifinals on Friday.

There were no real upsets in these quarterfinals games, and we really couldn’t ask for a better semifinal matchup. We have the hometown team WA, a Queensland team that possesses the individual brilliance of Alicia Froling and Kristy Wallace, and 2 undefeated teams in NSW and Victoria. We’re in for a real treat come Friday.