It’s Sichuan versus Stars; Tigers meet Iris in the other semifinal

Bengaluru: The final group games of the FIBA-Women’s Basketball League Asia at the Sree Kanteerava Indoor Stadium here on Thursday witnessed hectic action as teams vied to finish in the top two in their respective groups and secure places in the knockouts.

Title contender Sichuan Yuanda Meile (China) outplayed Akari Sparks (Philippines) 94-73 to top Group-A, while Denso Iris (Japan) pulled off a hard-fought 80-65 win over KB Stars (South Korea) to claim the pole position in Group-B.

Sichuan will take on Stars, while Cathay Life Tigers (Taiwan) will meet Iris in the semifinals on Saturday.

It was far from an easy outing for the Japanese outfit. Every time Denso Iris built a handy lead, Stars fought back strongly, forcing turnovers and cutting the deficit to keep the rival on tenterhooks. The Korean side produced a gritty display in the third and fourth quarters.

Powered by the impressive performances of its two foreign imports — Sara Blicavs (22 points) and Chennedy Carter (21) — Sichuan had earlier overpowered wild card entrant Akari Sparks, underlining its dominance. With two losses from as many matches, Sparks finished third and last in the group, while Tigers took the second place to qualify for the semifinals.

Indian Railways will clash with Sparks for the fifth spot.

Friday is a rest day.

The results: Group-A: Sichuan Yuanda Meile 94 (Sara Blicavs 22, Chennedy Carter 21, Song Gao 11, Yingying Su 11) bt Akari Sparks 73 (Saicha Patricia Grant-Allen 22, Stefanie Berberabe 12, Jhazmin Joson 11, Bre’Amber Shakira Scott 10).

Group-B: Denso Iris 80 (Haruna Kasagi 20, Maki Takada 12) bt KB Stars 65 (Yunjeong Na 15, Sara Sakasi 12).