Japan, Australia set up title showdown at FIBA Women's Asia Cup

Japan upset defending champion China 90-81 in the semifinal at the FIBA Women's Asia Cup on Saturday.

Japan will contend for the title with Australia, who held off South Korea 86-73.

Japan shot an impressive 47.1 percent on 3-pointers. Young point guard Kokoro Tanaka shot 10 of 16 for a game-high 27 points. Yuki Miyazawa added 18 points.

"That was a game that the players followed the game plan. We had a strategy into this game, they executed it. China countered it, then we changed to another plan. The win was for the players. They really did their job," said Japan coach Corey Gaines.

Tanaka, 19, dominated the opening stages, making eight of nine from the floor, including nailing five 3-pointers, for a 21-point first-quarter masterclass, as the score was knotted at 27-27 at the quarter's end.

A pair of 3-pointers from Nanako Todo gave Japan an early initiative in the second quarter. China's twin towers of Han Xu and Zhang Ziyu featured in the game with 4:49 remaining, while Japan set up an eight-point cushion at 49-41 with 2:29 remaining.

It was where Zhang began to sparkle as the 18-year-old prodigy snatched eight straight points, and Yang Shuyu capped a 10-point run with two free throws that fueled the host to a 51-49 advantage at the break.

Japan rode on a 10-0 surge midway through the third quarter to gain ground, and carried a 73-65 margin entering the fourth quarter.

Japan continued its clinical performance from a 3-point range, thwarting China's every comeback effort to secure the win.

Three Chinese players cracked double figures in scoring, led by Yang's 19 points. Han and Zhang chipped in 18 and 17, respectively.

"The players really wanted to play well, and they tried really hard. Before the game, we set our specific game plan, but when we played the twin towers, we had some mistakes on defense and gave them wide-open 3s, this is what we need to improve," commented China coach Gong Luming.

Han echoed Gong, saying, "We made some mistakes on our execution of the game plan. We were asked to guard the 3-point line and not give them open 3s, but we still made some mistakes."

Facing South Korea, Isobel Borlase opened with six straight points, sparking a 15-0 run over four minutes that gave Australia a 19-5 lead.

South Korea responded as Choi I-saem and Heo Ye-eun combined for eight points to keep the game within reach. The first quarter ended with Australia leading 22-13.

Australia caught fire from beyond the arc as Stephanie Reid and Sara Blicavs hit three consecutive 3-pointers. South Korea, known for its outside shooting, answered with three straight of its own from Choi, Park Ji-hyun and Heo to cut the gap to four.

South Korea made eight of 15 attempts from long range in the first half, compared to Australia's 38.5 percent from deep, but Australia still held a narrow 42-38 lead at halftime.

In the second half, South Korea was limited to just three 3-pointers. Australia broke the game open with a 16-4 run in the third quarter to lead 62-48.

As South Korea's shooting cooled down, Australia leaned on its physicality and tempo to push the lead to as many as 15 points with five minutes remaining.

Heo and Shin Ji-hyun sparked a brief rally with fast-break points, but Australia responded quickly with a series of inside attacks to maintain control.

Australia dominated the boards with a 45-26 rebounding advantage. Cayla George posted a double-double of 20 points and 13 rebounds.

New Zealand capped its campaign in Shenzhen in fifth place with a 78-71 victory over the Philippines.

Down by 16 points early in the second quarter, the Philippines roared back to life, as Kent Jane Pastrana's 3-pointer helped Gilas Pilipinas pull level at 48-48 at the 6:02 mark in the third.

The Philippines went ahead 54-53 on Jack Animam's free throw, its first lead since the first minute of the game.

Leading 66-61 three minutes going into the final period, the Philippines could not hold on to it, with the Tall Ferns responding with an 11-0 run to turn the game around.

"The fact that we could hang together for 40 minutes when a lot wasn't going our way, but we could stay together and grind out a win, just super proud of how the girls did that today," New Zealand coach Natalie Hurst remarked.

Esra McGoldrick had a game-high 17 points for New Zealand.