Egypt Crushed by Chinese Taipei in FIBA U17 Women's World Cup Showdown

Egypt Crushed by Chinese Taipei in FIBA U17 Women's World Cup Showdown

The FIBA U17 Women's Basketball World Cup 2024 group phase concluded with Egypt remaining winless. In their final match, the North Africans faced Chinese Taipei, a debutant team that managed to secure its first-ever victory by dominating Egypt 69-45.

Chinese Taipei led the game from start to finish, achieving leads as large as 25 points. Khadiga Abouelghait initially opened the scoring for Egypt, but Chinese Taipei quickly responded with a three-pointer from Chen Chia Shan Pan, taking control of the game. A 9-point run pushed Chinese Taipei to a 9-2 lead, although Egypt narrowed the gap to 18-15 by the end of the first quarter.

Egypt continued to challenge early in the second quarter, coming within one point at 20-19. However, costly ball-handling errors allowed Chinese Taipei to pull away again, extending their lead to 27-19 and finishing the quarter with a 17-09 run for an 11-point advantage.

Chinese Taipei maintained consistency in the second half, outscoring Egypt 17-08 and 17-13 in the third and fourth quarters, respectively. Yu Shan Hsu led the victors with 13 points and eight rebounds, while Yu Chen Peng contributed a double-double with 10 and 11 rebounds.

For Egypt, Joudy Elbaz of Al Ahly Sporting Club was the only player to score double digits, with 10 points. Abouelghait narrowly missed a double-double, contributing ten rebounds and 9 points.

Finishing last in Group D, Egypt now faces a daunting challenge against reigning champions USA in the round of 16. The USA, who topped Group C, concluded their group phase with a record-breaking 123-42 win over Croatia. Coach Meg Barber's squad was relentless on defence, forcing 45 turnovers and setting a new single-game record with 30 steals in the competition's history.

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[Photography / Imagery Courtesy of FIBA]‍