Both teams had a quick turnaround to recover and prepare for the final series game at 9:30am this morning. The AIS CEO had a great start to the game with intense defense, hustle and scrambling to rattle their Japan opponents early. By the half way mark Japan had warmed up and hit a few baskets to close the gap. The AIS CEO did a great job defensively to keep Japans 3 point shooting to 1/6 and at quarter AIS COE was down 16-15.

The second quarter saw the AIS COE do a better job of controlling the game tempo, running there quarter court offense  and continuing to dominate  boards and scoring in the paint.  Japans pressure had caused the AIS COE to turn the ball over 13 times by half time, in which Japan punished them by scoring 12 of those.  Japan yet again shared the scoring around with 9 of their players scoring by half time.

The start of the second half the AIS COE had to be more organized in their offensive structure and be more disciplined with the ball as Japan were not going to let down as they were down 45-36 at half time. The beginning of the second half saw the AIS COE not get off to a good start; Japan came out and went on an 8-2 run in the first 2 minutes of the game.  The AIS COE continued to turn the ball over and had 20 for the game, but managed to hold the lead 65-60.

The final quarter the AIS COE played excellent defense causing Japan to cough the ball up 8 times, they continued to stay poised and execute their quarter court offense and only turning the ball over three times. 

In summary, the AIS COE did a fantastic with their defensive effort and intensity to keep Japan scoring 73 for the game as well as shooting their lowest percentage for the series. The AIS COE dominated the paint with 54 points and 49-22 rebounds.

Overall a great series, a great job by Japan as they never let down and continued to play their physical, running and intense pressure game.

Great performances by a number of the COE women’s players:

 Alex Wilson - 22 points, 5 rebounds

Tess Madgen - 24 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists

Alice Kunek - 8 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists,

 Louise Brown - 6 points, 6 rebounds

Darcee Garbin – 8 points, 5 rebounds

Game report by Rebecca Dudic, Assistant Coach