Australia’s women's basketball team has pulled out one of the performances of the Youth Olympic Games as they fought back to knock out the hotly favoured Team USA in overtime, 25-23, and progress to the gold medal match.

The Aussies were down by as much as 8, but showed a tremendous amount of fight to send the match into overtime, eventually prevailing to take the one point victory and a date with the Chinese in the final.

Captain Olivia Bontempelli starred again as she put away 15 points to lead all scorers, while Rosie Fedjlevic was as strong as ever against the USA’s  towering stars.

Andraya Carter got USA off to a good start as she drove to the ring, landing the basket, but missing the three point play opportunity from the line.

Bontempelli got the Aussies on the board in the second minute when she drove hard into the key and converted one of her free throw attempts, before she soon had her first of five field goals in the match to put the Aussies up 3-2.

The USA soon showed off what they’ve perfected all tournament, getting the ball into their 6 foot plus bigs as Klah Stokes knocked down a basket from in close, drawing a foul, and making it a three point play to put the US back in front 5-3.

Stokes was at it again moments later as she posted up on Bontempelli to convert from under the basket before outmuscling Fedjlevic to put in a lay up and assert their early dominance, taking a 9-3 lead.    

Bontempelli reduced the lead to five before the Americans put on one of the plays of the match as Carter drove hard to put in a reverse layup and take the score to 11-4.

The Aussies continued to get to the line as Kaser knocked down a free throw, but the US continued to get it done as Amber Henson registered her first points to open up the biggest lead of the match at 13-5.

The Aussie captain got the green and gold back to within six, but it was the US who finished the scoring for the half as the Aussies looked up to a 15-7 deficit on the scoreboard at the break.

After some words of wisdom from coach Kristy Flores, the Aussies came out a different team in the second half as they opened with an 8-0 run.

Bontempelli kicked off proceedings as she grabbed a three point play, with Fedjlevic knocking down a free throw and then draining a three to have the scores at 15-14.    

Kaser levelled it up at 15-15 until the Americans finally kicked into gear as Henson knocked down a long jumper.

It was the Aussies defence that then shined as Kaser knocked away USA’s attempts on basket leading to a ten second violation before pressuring their opposition and forcing another of what would be 17 turnovers for Team USA on the next possession.

Kaser then did what she does best, knock down shots from the carpark as she put the Aussies in front, 18-17.  

It was the captain again that put the Aussies out to a three point lead, however the ascendency was short lived as the scores were quickly tied back at 20-20 with little time left on the clock.

As the seconds ticked down, Kaser had one last chance to end the game in regulation but couldn’t put away a layup with three seconds to go as some strong defence by the Americans ensured the match would last at least another two minutes. 

As overtime began and the vocal crowd lifted another notch is seemed as though everyone on the court all of a sudden couldn’t buy a basket as both teams traded misses.

Bontempelli  bucked the trend though, coming up big when it mattered most as she put on one of her signature drives, finishing in style with a the reverse layup.

The Aussies remained strong in defence as they forced a ten second violation with only half a minute remaining in overtime to put the Americans on the brink.

After both teams traded misses, Bontempelli took over as she drew a foul and extended the lead out to 24-20 with 14.2 seconds left.

However Carter was cool in a desperate situation draining a three to get it back to a one point game, before Fedjlevic knocked down the final point with 1.3 seconds on the clock to send the Aussies into the final with a 25-23 victory.

“I don’t even know what to say,” said an elated Kaser. 

“It’s always been our goal and we wanted to get here, but now that we’re here the feeling is incredible. My heart is going at 100km an hour.”

While the US walked through their pool and quarter final, the Aussies difficult run put them in good shape against their semi final opponents.

“We were revved up and we had a few tough games so we knew what it was like to be pushed so I think that was a real advantage for us,” Bontempelli said.

The Australians will now take on a classy Chinese side that convincingly disposed of Canada 28-21 in the other semi final.  

“It will be different to playing the US, we will have to have a different strategy, they’re obviously very quick and good shooters so we’ll have to look out for that.”

Australia will again grace the court at Scape Youth Space tomorrow when they aim to bring home gold in what is sure to be in front of a sold out crowd.

Matt Bartolo

AOC