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India cruise to semis
Hosts India played Fiji in the last quarterfinal of the day, as they looked to continue their charge towards promotion. The Indian offense was on fire once again in the first half, as they raced to a 42 – 23 lead by halftime. Anitha Paul Durai and Jeena Skaria did the bulk of the scoring in the first half, with 24 points between them. Kavita Akula put in an assured performance at point guard, even knocking down a buzzer beater three at the stroke of halftime.
In the second half, Coach Zoran Visic gave his bench a run-out, allowing Grima to continue her run of good performances in this tournament (15 points). India’s centres were offensively productive, as Rajapriyadharshini finished with 12 points and Poonam Chaturvedi had 10 points.
India was superior in almost every department, outrebounding the Fiji team 55 – 25. Fiji were also clumsy with their passing, allowing the Indian women to notch up 28 points from turnovers.
In the final analysis, the team shot the ball well, at a healthy 45% from the field. Anitha Paul Durai led the scoring for India with 19 points and Grima Merlin chipped in with 15 points. Jeena with 9 points and Anjanna contributed 8 points Mili Koyamainavure led the scoring for Fiji with 23 points.
In the Semi hosts India facing dangerous Lebanon, while rivals Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan take on each other to find out who will make it to the Division B Final.
Australia, Korea, China and Japan in last Four in Group A
While in the Group A competitions Australia, Korea, China and Japan are the four teams from FIBA Asia and Oceania that will play at the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup 2018 in Spain.
This comes after they won their respective Quarter-Finals at the FIBA Women’s Asia Cup 2017 on Friday.
Led by Alanna Smith, who scored 20 points and grabbed 9 rebounds, Australia cruised past DPR Korea, 81-48, for their fourth win in as many games. The Opals were better across the board in their victory, gaining more rebounds, assists, steals and blocks than their East Asia foes. Also impressing for Australia were Sara Blicavs, who had 13 points and 3 steals, and Stephanie Cumming, who hit 3 triples en route to 11 points off the bench.
Korean rising star Park JiSu, meanwhile, stepped up big time and led her squad as they whipped New Zealand, 64-49. The 18-year-old 1.95m center exploded for 19 points, 11 rebounds and 2 blocks in a near-unstoppable show of force. She also got ample support from Lim YungHui and Kwak JooYeong, who scored 14 and 11 points respectively, while Jillian Harmon paced the Tall Ferns with 13 points. New Zealand’s hopes of barging into the Women’s Basketball World Cup were dashed.

In contrast, China hardly broke a sweat in showing Philippines the door, 117-43. The Chinese flexed their muscle early and often against the visibly outmatched Filipinas, who were groping for form the whole game. Rising star Li Yueru continued her dominant play with 17 points and 12 rebounds, while 21-year-old Huang Sijing had an all-around stat-line of 15 points, 8 boards and 5 assists for the undefeated powerhouse.
Japan, for their part, had to fend off a stubborn Chinese Taipei, 73-57, and it was Moeko Nagaoka who starred for the Akatsuki Five. She tallied 28 points on 12-of-17 shooting from the field while also sinking 3 triples in a scintillating offensive display. What began as a see-saw affair was controlled by Japan midway through the second period, and they never looked back till the final buzzer.
Australia will face Korea, and China will play Japan in Friday’s Semi-Finals of the FIBA Women’s Asia Cup 2017 to determine the two that will fight for the continental crown on Saturday.
Detailed Results Quarter Finals (group A)

• Korea(Jisu Park 10 pts 11 rbs, Yung Hui Lim 14 pts, Joo Yeong Kwak 11 pts) bt New Zealand (Jillian Harmon 13pts 10 rbs, Antonia Edmondson 11 pts 9 rbs, Micaela Cocks 11 pts) 64-49 [8-14, 26-6, 11-18, 19-11].
• Australia (Alanna Smith 20, Sara Blicavs 13, Stephanie Cumming 11) bt DPR of Korea (Suk Yong Ro 22, Ryu Jong Kim 7, Hyang Jong Pak 7) 81-48 [28-12, 21-11, 11-12, 21-13]
• China (Yueru Li 19 pts 12 rbs, Sinjin Huang 15 pts, Shao Ting 12 pts 7 asts) bt Philippines (Afril Bernardino 11 pts, Camile Sambile 10 pts) 117-43 [33-13, 28-2, 25-16, 31-12]
• Japan (Moeko Nagaoka 28 pts; Saki Mizushima 11 pts; Asami Yoshida 8 asts) bt Chinese Taipei (Ping-Jen Huang 17 pts; Hsi-Le Bao 16 rebs) 73 – 57 [13 – 15, 20 – 15, 19 – 15, 21 – 12]

Group B Quarter finals

• India (Anitha Paul Durai 19 pts; Grima Merlin 15 pts; Rajapriyadharshini Rajaganapathy 10) bt Fiji(Mili Koyamainavure 23 pts) 93 – 51 [19 – 11, 23 – 12, 25 – 16, 26 – 12]
• Uzbekistan (Natalya Koneva 26 pts; Elena Khusnitdinova 19 pts, 11 rebs; Anastasiya Sevastyanova 16 pts) bt Singapore (Jia Min Lim 18 pts, Cheryl Poon 13 pts; Jacqueline Chu 13 pts) 84 – 79 [18 – 22, 14 – 15, 33 – 16, 19 – 26]
• Lebanon (Lama Moukaddem 16 pts; Nancy Maalouf 14 pts; Narine Gyokchian 13 pts, 12 rebs) bt Sri Lanka (N. Silva 17 pts) 86 – 37 [25 – 11, 22 – 9, 29 – 10, 10 – 7]