Korea and Australia have reached the Semi-Finals after winning the Qualification SemiFinals. Korea beat Chinese Taipei 80-74 to set up a clash versus China in the best of four. Meanwhile, Australia overcame New Zealand 72-61 to cruise ahead and set up a tough game versus the Olympic silver-medalists Japan.
Chinese Taipei played one of the best games in its history and the highly talented and deep Korean team had to grind one out. After Korea jumped out to a 45-36 lead in the first half, the Tapei team roared back to tie the game at the end of the third period. However, Korea kept its cool and finished the job in the last period, outscoring the feisty Chinese Taipei 23-17.
For Korea, Hyejin Park continued her stellar form and dropped a game-high 22 points. Isaem Choi grabbed a game-high 8 rebounds while Danbi Kim led all players in assists with five. On the other hand, for Chinese Taipei, Hsiao-Tong Peng notched a team-high 18 points while I-Hsieu Cheng reeled in a team-high 7 rebounds. Meanwhile dynamic Yu-Ting Lin dished a team-high 4 assists.
Meanwhile, in the New Zealand-Australia tussle, Samantha Whitcomb dominated the stat line once again. While New Zealand kept the game tied till the first quarter, the Opals outscored its neighboring nation in the rest of the periods. Whitcomb scooped up a game-high 29 points, dished 6 assists, and hoarded 7 rebounds. For the Tall Ferns, Charlisse Leger-Walker put in a team-high 17 points.