Youth international basketball day of reckoning at U19 World Championship women in Thailand

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The fifth day of the youth international basketball tournament in Thailand turned into the day of reckoning.

Australia and Spain continue to win and are enjoying their preparations for the quarter-final of the FIBA U19 world Championship women.

The USA are getting stronger and stronger and booked their ticket in the next phase by ending the perfect record of Russia.

Elsewhere the competition has become complicated as nobody has been eliminated from the competition.

In Group E Argentina beat Brazil (70-46) and Lithuania won against France (52-42).

With Australia beating the Czech Republic (92-65) France and Brazil are bottom of the group.

If they lose their last game they will be eliminated. However if they happen to win then the calculator may be required to determine which teams finish in third and fourth place.

In Group F the situation is not that complicated: Spain, Russia and the USA have all qualified.

If Canada beat China then they will qualify. Yet if they lose to China and Japan beat the USA, then Japan will qualify.

In the case of Canada and Japan both losing then the calculators will be used to determine who goes through.

Thailand and coach Thongchai Vatanasakdakul (above) were unable to finish the tournament on a high as they lost to Tunisia (65-80).

Korea beat Mali (68-52) in the match for 13th place.

Kim Gayoung spent the whole match shooting (28 attempts) and she finished with 24 points for Korea, which included 4-of-9 from beyond the arc.

Ouleymatou Coulibaly led the scoring for Mali with 17 points.

You can read our youth international basketball match Qualification Round group summaries by clicking on the links below or scrolling down the page:

Brazil and France in trouble in Group E

USA beat Russia in Group F

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France make things difficult for themselves

This generation of Lithuanian youth international basketball players won the U18 European Championship last summer and gave France a lesson in the art of winning difficult games.

Lithuania beat France (54-42) in a game that never really took off.

France led (8-5) at the end of the first period. In fact France was leading (8-2) with nine minutes played before Marina Solopava fired in a trey.

The second period was much more entertaining with the pendulum swinging for both sides.

Lithuania had the better start and regained the lead after scoring 7 unanswered points (12-10).

France found their range from beyond the arc with Eléanore Grossemy and Pauline Thizy hiiting the target for France to go back in front (18-12) with four minutes remaining in the quarter.

France were unable to extend their advantage and Giedre Paugaite (left) reduced the Lithuanian deficit with back to back scores with 5 points.

However France managed to hold onto the lead and went into the interval leading (25-19) after Margaux Okou Zouzouo's three-pointer buzzer beater was allowed.

The pace of the game slowed down during the third period. Both sides struggled to get anything going offensively.

France still held onto the advantage (34-29) with three minutes left to play in the quarter.

Lithuania stopped shooting and went back to basics by alternating the offensive option with their post players to win free trips to the free-throw line. By the end of the quarter both teams were level.

Lithuania continued to take the game to France and scored the first 11 points of the second period with Solopava scoring the first 8 points which included two shots from beyond the arc.

Lithuania led (45-34) with just over five minutes left to play.

France played some of their best basketball during the last fiveminutes but Lithuania had Solopava firing on all cylinders.

She top scored with 21 points as Lithuania went on to win (54-42). Diana Zintikaite was the only other players in double digits with 10 points for the winners.

Adja Konteh (right) was the best player from France with 13 points while Pauline Thizy scored 10 points in only 11 minutes on court.

Youth International Basketball Box Scores.

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There is not much you can say about Australia. They finish in first place after the Qualification Round and will play whoeverhas finished 4th from Group F in the quarter-final.

Australia controlled the pace of the game against the Czech Republic from the tip-off and led (12-5)after five minutes.

It did not matter which players were on the court Australia continued to score regularly and led (24-11) after the firstperiod.

The Czech Republic were not able to compete on the rebounds andreally never troubled their opponents and went into the intervaltrailing (28-47).

The rest of the game turned into an Australian "Gem " demonstration as they won (92-65).

Rachael Jarry led the scoring with 17 points and Gretel Tippet (above in picture), the youngest member of the squad, added 14 points.

Youth International Basketball Box Scores.

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The all South America clash went Eduardo Pinto (left) and Argentina as they beat Brazil comfortably (70-46).

Brazil scored first with a three-pointer by Fabiana de Souza.

However Ornella Santana fired in a three-pointer for Argentina on the next attack. Then Agostina Burani scored for Argentina to take the lead for good.

Brazil never really got into the game and faded away allowingArgentina to secure an important victory.

Youth International Basketball Box Scores.

If Brazil and France lose in the last group games they will beeliminated from the competition. But if they are able to win their matches then the calculator may have to be used.

Australia have qualified and the winner in the game between Argentina and Lithuania will also qualify.

The other two places depend on the outcome of the remaining group games.

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The USA are getting better

The USA have made the necessary adjustments since their opening game and are now firing on all cylinders.

They showed a lot of maturity and calm as they handed Russia their first defeat (75-56).

It was an important win for the USA because they have now secured a quarter-final ticket.

The European nations have more experience when it comes to youthinternational basketball. Since 2004 they play internationaltournaments every summer and Russia are one of the best nations at this level.

However the USA did not waste much time and opened the game with a 9-3 run. But they were quickly shown how fast things can change as Russia rallied back to tie the game (15-15) with just under three minutes to play in the first period.

No sign of panic by the American players with Samantha Prahalis running the first play and Lasondra Barret scoring.

Prahalis scored herself on the next play and the US girls were on their way.

Shenise Johnson (left) hit some big shots and the USA led (23-17) by the end of the first period.

The second quarter was a typical youth international basketball game with a lot of good will and intensity but not much luck.

The two teams traded basket for basket for most of the period with the USA going into the locker room with an increased lead due to a last three-pointer by Layshia Clarendon (40-32).

Russia put a lot of energy into their game during the third period and regained the lead (45-44).

The sea-saw battle continued.

Tatiana Grigoryeva's three-pointer brought the teams level for the last time in the match (50-50).

The last 2 1/2 minutes belonged to the USA as they shut down the Russian offensive while scoring 5 points to go into the final period ahead (55-50).

Russia died on their feet at the start of the last quarter and conceded 10 straight points. The Americans strong defense only allowed their opponents 6 points in the final period.

Youth International Basketball Box Scores.

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Spain made it five wins from five matches with a victory againstCanada (72-56).

Canada dominated the first five minutes of the game and led (10-4) at one stage but then suffered a 10-0 run by Spain.

Canada were not to get the lead back for the rest of the game although they tied the game on a couple of occasions. However Spain regained control and went into the interval leading (43-35) to end the game as a contest before going into the final period leading (64-45).

Cristina Ouvina and Leonor Rodriguez did most of the offensive damage for Spain with 17 and 15 points each while Marta Casademont added 14 more points to her tournament tally.

If Canada beat China in their final game in the next match, they will qualify for the quarter-final.

Youth International Basketball Box Scores.

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Japan ran their hearts out. Despite losing the battle of theboards they beat China (78-70) in one of the most exciting games of the day.

The lead changed hands no less than 7 times before Japan took it for good late in the second period (33-31).

Japan then held off the challenge of China for the rest of the match.

Yuka Mamiya led the Japanese scoring with 18 points and finished with 8 rebounds. Kyoko Ito had 17 points and Kana Motoyama 16.

For China Zheng Bowen scored 19 points and Lu Wen contributed 12 points.

Both teams are bottom of the group and even if they both win tomorrow one of them will be eliminated for sure.

Youth International Basketball Box Scores.

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France still in with a chance, the USA beat Canada

France lose again - this time Argentina

Liz Cambage scores 38 points in beating France

France start with a win on day 1

U19 World Championship for Women draw

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Youth international basketball picture credits:

FIBA

Date created: 28 July 2009

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