Domination: Opals trounce Chinese Taipei for back-to-back Asia Cup wins

The Australian Opals were never threatened, and powered to a 91-45 victory over their group B opponent.

Credit: May Bailey Photography

Australia was always expected to finish on top of Chinese Taipei, but they impressed nonetheless in a dominant display with Keely Froling emerging as the night’s somewhat unlikely star.

Froling had 16 points, nine rebounds and two blocks in an all-action effort, while skipper Tess Madgen, Maddi Rocci, Alice Kunek and Chantel Horvat all finished in double figures in what was a well-rounded team effort.

Australia was simply too big and physical for their opponents, with the likes of Froling, Kunek, Anneli Maley and Scherf crashing the boards. The bigs used their height advantage and protected the rim well, holding Chinese Taipei to an anemic 27.7% field-goal percentage for the night.

Chinese Taipei was competitive early and mostly put up a respectable effort, but their game cratered as they fatigued, and they could only record five points in the final quarter.

While the Opals were more dominant against Chinese Taipei than their next opponent, Japan, had been, they will be looking to fine-tune some aspects of their game as the tournament progresses. This was another solid win, but you get the impression there is still more improvement in this squad.

A victory built on hard work

Neither Anneli Maley nor Keely Froling are particularly imposing size-wise, but they were crucial to Australia seizing the momentum.