The Indian women’s basketball team is through to the quarter-finals of the FIBA Women’s Asia Cup Division B tournament being held in Bengaluru.
India beat Sri Lanka 88-42 in a one-sided match on Tuesday to clinch top spot in Group A. The team had beaten Uzbekistan 92-76 on Sunday previously. Forward Grima Merlin Varghese top-scored for India with 19 points. Guard Anitha Paul Durai, the captain chipped in with 13 points, and was the only other player to get into double digits.
The team, coached by Serbian Zoran Visic, shot 31 on 87 from the field, registering a shot accuracy of 35.6%. Their three-point accuracy was 35%, after landing 7 of their 20 shots successfully.
The Indians were outstanding in defence in the second quarter, restricting the islanders to three points while they picked up 17 points, going into half-time with a 27-point lead, 40-13 ahead.
Their next game will be the quarter-finals against Fiji, who finished fourth in Group B with three defeats. American Samoa were supposed to be the fourth member of Group A, but their late pull-out meant that there were only three teams in the host nation’s group.
Durai has been the top scorer in this tournament so far for India, with a cumulative total of 41 points, also notching up 10 rebounds along the way.
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