Spain Tops Australia 87-74 In Exhibition Play

Sept. 11, 2010 • Hartford, Conn.

Box Score

On Saturday afternoon at the University of Hartford in Hartford, Conn., Spain's 2010 Women's National Team (1-0) wasted no time jumping on its opponent Australia (0-2), leading by 21 points at halftime before recording a 87-74 win in front of a crowd of 678 people at Chase Arena.

Amaya Valdemoro tallied 22 points for Spain, while Anna Montanana contributed 15 points and Alba Torrens added 14.

"We are happy because we have been working together for just three weeks preparing for the world championship," said Spain's head coach Jose Ignacio Hernandez. "We did a very good job on defense in the first half. We got fastbreaks and easy points, good pressure on defense and we were able to build a lead in the first half. In the second half, we went down in intensity, and Australia played better."

Australia managed to outscore Spain 23-18 in the third quarter and 27-24 in the fourth period, but they were not able to overcome the advantage Spain had secured in the game's first 20 minutes.While Spain was consistent from the field and finished with an impressive 55.4 shooting percentage, Australia shot just 30.3 percent in the first half before improving to 43.7 percent for the game overall.

Australia's Jenna O'Hea scored a game high 24 points, Kristi Harrower added 12 points and Hollie Grima rounded out the Aussie double-digit scorers with 10 points.

While Australia fell to the USA Women's National Team (1-0) 89-56 on Friday, Sept. 10, Spain will next take on the Americans at 1:00 p.m. (EDT) on Sunday, Sept. 12 at the XL Center in Hartford, Conn.