New York Liberty stretch forward, Rebecca Allen, averaged 17.0 points per game in a pair of exhibition contests with Australia as her national team split results this past weekend.
Against France, Allen notched a game-high 23 points and eight boards outscoring her opponent’s highest point-getter, Nwal-Endene Miyem, by four.
France carried a 17-point lead following the first onset before tacking on 26 more points to boast a 19-point halftime buffer.
Les Bleues’ dominance continued in the third quarter before Australia rallied behind a 21-10 fourth-quarter run to make things interesting. However, France would outlast the Opals by eight, 85-77.
Versus Latvia, Australia bounced back putting its foe away by seven, 77-70, in part to Allen’s 11-point contribution.
Australia commanded a 18-12 lead at the end of the first quarter. Latvia narrowed the gap in the second quarter to trail just three at the intermission. Despite the break, Latvia was momentous eking out a slight edge over the Aussies, 51-50, before the final quarter commenced.
In the fourth, the Opals bested Latvia to come away with the winning outcome and even its record in exhibition play, 1-1.
The Opals now head to Turkey for another game mid-week before arriving in Spain for three final warm-up games against China, Spain and USA.
Placed into Group B, the Chemist Warehouse Australian Opals (ranked fourth in the world) will take on Nigeria (ranked 34th), Argentina (ranked 15th) and Turkey (ranked 7th) in the pool stage of the FIBA Women’s World Cup.
If they finish on top of Group B, Australia will automatically advance to the quarterfinals but a second or third-place finish will see them placed into a quarterfinal qualification game while the team that finishes fourth in the group will be knocked out.
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