THE Australian Opals have sustained their first loss of the 2023 FIBA Women’s Asia Cup, falling to Japan by 25 points on Wednesday night.

Both sides were in red-hot form coming into the game, claiming big wins over the first two days and setting up a blockbuster matchup between two of the tournament contenders.

The Opals entered the match as slight favourites given the home court advantage, but Japan was hard to count out given its current form and status as the reigning champion.

The result sees the Aussies finish in second spot in Group B with a record of two wins and one loss, while Japan has advanced to the semi-finals after a dominant group stage performance across the first three days of the tournament.

Despite the final result, the Opals started the game strongly, embracing the physical nature of the opening quarter and outworking the visitors to take a handy six-point lead into the first change.

Although it was not as dominant a start as Australia had produced in matches prior, it was still a promising opening from the Aussies.

Things were soon flipped on their head, as Japan took control of the match in the second quarter to outscore Australia 29-11. The game was suddenly played on the visiting side’s terms, and they took not only a 12-point lead, but also all of the momentum into half time.

The Aussies managed to get their offence rolling a bit better in the third quarter, but Japan’s ability to not only penetrate and score, but also knock down shots from behind the arc was too much to contain, and a lack of accountability on the defensive end saw Australia’s deficit extend further to 19 points.

Despite the result being essentially sealed before the fourth quarter even started, Japan continued its dominance in the final period. It was simply too good for the Opals, who conceded their first loss and made their path to winning it all a bit tougher.

Mai Yamamoto continued her breakout campaign in style, delivering another excellent offensive performance by pouring in 19 points and five assists on 7/11 shooting from the field and 5/9 shooting from behind the arc.

She was well-aided by Monica Okoye, who top-scored for the victors with 20 points, nailing seven of her 13 shots from the field.

Guard Maddison Rocci battled valiantly for the Opals, finishing with a team-high 12 points and five assists, but did not get enough support from her teammates to remain competitive with a firing Japan side.

Australia will look to take full advantage of Thursday’s rest day, before taking on Korea in the Qualifying phase on Friday, while Japan will look ahead to the semi-finals, moving one step closer to the ultimate prize.