Australia has dominated their opening pool game against the Philippines, winning it easily 123-57.

After losing the 2017 Asia Cup by one point to Japan, the Australian Opals are looking to dominate this tournament. They started this in their first game against the Philippines, winning 123-57.

They did this on the back of an even scoring performance where eight players scored in double figures in a game where no Opals player played 20 minutes. 2019 Seattle Storm draft pick Ezi Magbegor top scored for the Opals with 18 points, on 8-of-10 shooting. Ex Storm player Jenna O’Hea was just behind her with 17 points.

There were five players who scored 11 points. They were Steph Talbot, Abby Bishop, Bec Allen, Sara Blicavs and Cayla George. True to form, George was also the leading rebounder with 14 to have the only double-double of the game. WNBA most improved player Leilani Mitchell only scored five points but led the team with nine assists.

In a true display of basketball being a team game, the Opals had 41 assists on 46 total made shots. However, it was not just the passing where Australia excelled, the Opals out-rebounded the Philippines 70 – 19. The Opals dominated the offensive glass, collecting 28 offensive board and converting them into 34 second chance points.

They scored 68 points in the paint and this team does not have the most dominant paint presence Liz Cambage who is still playing in the playoffs for the Las Vegas Aces. Encouragingly for the Opals, the bench scored 76 points, outscoring the starters who only put in 47 points for the game. This team is deep.

What should be scary for the rest of the competition is that the Opals can still improve. They shot an incredible 62.3 percent from the field but were only 33.3 percent from deep.

The next game will present a greater challenge as they take on New Zealand but the Opals should easily dispatch their trans-Tasman rival who lost their opening game to China.

Game time is 5:45 Eastern Standard Time and is being telecast on Foxsports. Tune in to support this tremendous Australia team.

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