Indian Women Impress Against South Korea

Anitha Paul-Durai

The Indian women's basketball team continued their campaign at the 39th William Jones Cup International Basketball Tournament against South Korea. The team put in a much improved performance after the first two games of the tournament. Going into the fourth quarter, the Indian women were trailing 47-37. Point guard Akula Kavita (165-G-96) and captain Anitha Paul-Durai (169-G-85), who was restored to the starting line-up after being rested in the last game, rallied strongly to close the gap to five, but the team eventually lost 56-61. Head coach Zoran Visic continued to chop and change the starting line-up with one eye on the FIBA Women's Asia Cup in Bangalore later this month. He handed Barkha Sonkar (156-PG-96), Shireen Limaye (187-C-95), and Poonam Chaturvedi their first starts of the tournament. Shireen Limaye made the most of the opportunity, scoring 6 points and racking up 5 rebounds. Jeena Skaria was the top performer for the Indian women, coming off the bench to drop 9 points and grab an impressive 13 rebounds. Collectively, the Indians were strong off the boards, out-rebounding the Korean women 41-25. The team's shooting from beyond the arc was also much improved, with an impressive rate of 36%.
Courtesy of: basketballfederationindia.org