POSTED BY: Eurobasket Center
As expected, Australia claimed the Gold medal in the first-ever women basketball tournament in the Commonwealth Games. In the championship games, Lauren Jackson (196-F/C-81) and her teamates defeated New Zealand 77-39. This game closed an interesting tournament where the Opals were playing on another level. We will post a complete recap of this tournament and the stats leaders in the next days.
Gold medal game:
Australia - New Zealand: 77-39
The australians players said before this game that it will be the most difficult one for them, so they decided to start it at 110% to crush the slight Kiwi hopes as soon as possible. In the first quarter, Lauren Jackson (196-F/C-81) and Belinda Snell (180-F-81) combined for 11pts 7rbs and 5st to give Australia a 23-11 lead. In the second quarter, Jackson didn't need any help and scored 9 of her team's 15 points and the Opals reached half-time on a 38-19 lead. Jackson has played 17 minutes in this first half, just to show how hard she wanted this game. NZ captain Donna Loffhagen (185-F-78), who was scoreless in the first half, scored 8pts in the second one but that wasn't enough and the lead kept growing until the final buzzer. Australia came out of the game with a 77-39 victory.
Lauren Jackson was the game's leading scorer with 23pts 6/14FG 11rbs 2ast 3st and 1bs, Belinda Snell (180-F-81) added 8pts 4/8FG 10rbs and Laura Summerton (189-C-83) netted 7pts 3/6FG. Donna Loffhagen (185-F-78) recorded 8pts 2/8FG 13rbs, Noni Wharemate (171-G-82) scored 6pts 1/4FG 6rbs and Kate McKeenen-Ruscoe (173-G-79) added 7pts 3/9FG.
'This is so awesome. To play in front of this crowd is something I will never forget,' exclaimed Jackson. 'I never thought I would get the chance to play for my country again in Australia.'
'They are a very good team, obviously,' stated NZ coach Mike McHugh. 'You could see how much they wanted the gold medal. We went through 10 minutes without getting a score ... we just couldn't score ...'
Boxscore here
