Diamond Standard: Opals continue hot start in China

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The Australian Opals continued their onslaught in the 2025 Asia Cup following another dominant win this time against Lebanon, 113-34, on Monday evening at the Shenzhen Sports Center.

Sustaining momentum from their big win against the Philippines some 24 hours ago, the Opals went on a blistering 17-0 scoring tear for a 19-2 start into the match and that's all they needed to take control for good.

The charges of Coach Paul Goriss would then cruise to their second win in as many outings, breaking a tie with Japan to take the provisional lead in Group B - and move a win away from sweeping the pool.

But interestingly, it would be the 2023 runners-up which they would face next to wrap up their Group Phase campaign. The potential clash for the group's top seed is set for Tuesday at 6:30pm AEST.

"I'm really pleased with our focus in both the last game and today's game. From a defensive standpoint, I think we're growing by leaps and bounds," said Goriss as they've held their foes to an average of 36.5 points.

Eight of the 11 players fielded finished in double figures, with Isabelle Bourne top-scoring with 15 points. Stephanie Reed and Abbey Ellis, meanwhile, produced 14 points apiece, with the former adding 7 assists to her tally.

Head coach Paul Goriss added: "We wanted to move the ball and come out with a defensive focus, and I think that really built the edge for us that continued throughout the rest of the game.

"Our ball movement was elite — we ended up with 36 assists on 46 made field goals. Our ball movement, our player movement, and our spacing were excellent. But what I'm most happy about is our deflections, our steals, and being able to hold the team to 39 points.

"A gold medal has eluded us for a very long time here at the Asia Cup. It's something that we’ve got a great focus on — to come in here and try to win that gold medal. Obviously, China is a very good team, and playing at home in their country is going to make them a very tough opponent.

"But for us right now, it’s about one game at a time, focusing on us and continuing to get better.

We know that Lebanon will be a great opponent tomorrow, and then Japan, so we’re not getting too far ahead of ourselves.

"We’re focused on the things we can control and improve on, knowing that the road is going to get tougher every day that we’re here."

Key Details

• Result: Australia 113 def. Philippines 34
• When: July 14, 2025
• Where: Shenzhen Sports Center, People's Republic of China

By the Numbers

• Isabelle Bourne (Australia) led a balanced attack with 15 points, four rebounds, three assists, and three steals in 22 minutes.
• Nour Labbon (Lebanon) scored 11 points and had two steals in 27 minutes.

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