U17 World Cup: Five thoughts from the Sapphires' fifth-place finish

The Australian Sapphires claimed a fifth-placed finish at the U17 FIBA Women’s World Cup, so let's recap what we learnt from an action-packed week.

The Australian Sapphires completed their 2024 U17 FIBA Women’s World Cup campaign yesterday, with a heart-stopping 67-64 win over Japan to claim fifth spot.

It was a strong finish to a campaign that had ups and downs, but a fifth-placed finish is encouraging considering the cutthroat nature of World Cups, where one bad game can be the difference between a podium finish and leaving without a medal.

That one bad game came against Spain in the quarter-finals, when the Sapphires had no answers for Sara Okeke, while shooting a woeful 25.9% from the field themselves. More on that later - let’s start with the positives.

1. Ruby Perkins was the offensive engine room

Image credit: FIBA

16-year-old point guard Ruby Perkins was a constant driving threat and made things easier for her teammates. The New South Wales junior was a star of the tournament for the Sapphires, leading the team in minutes played (27 per game), assists (3.7) and second in scoring (10.7).