Australia won 76-65 against Chinese Taipei in a game where Chinese Taipei gave them significant competition. In their first game of the FIBA Women’s Asia Cup, the Aussies got a lot of challenge and fire from Chinese Taipei after Australia could have been expected to win by a margin of 30+. However, it can be argued that this is the second-choice squad that the Aussies have been fielding in the tournament, but that doesn’t take away the competitiveness of Chinese Taipei who still had to deal with WNBA talent Sam Whitcomb along with various other talented players.
Australia jumped out to a 19-16 lead in the first quarter but Chinese Taipei mounted a terrific second quarter and took one point lead to the half. In the third quarter, Australian women pulled off an eight-point lead and avoided any strong rallies from Chinese Taipei to close out the game.
For Australia, Darcee Garbin top-scored with 15 points, Sam Whitcomb dished out a game-high 11 assists while Alexandra Jane Sharp clinched a team-high 10 rebounds. Meanwhile, Yu-Ting Lin looped in a team-high 12 points and team-high 7 assists for Chinese Taipei, and Tieh Lin grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds.
