basketball.com.au<\/a>.<\/p>\nAustralia established control early through its trademark defensive pressure and unselfish offensive approach, forcing turnovers and creating opportunities in transition. The Sapphires continued to share the scoring load throughout the game, with contributions coming across the roster as they maintained their intensity from the opening quarter through to the final siren.<\/p>\n
The defensive end again proved a key foundation for Australia, with the Sapphires disrupting C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire\u2019s rhythm and dictating the tempo of the contest. At the other end, patient ball movement and improved execution allowed Australia to steadily build its advantage and finish the group stage with confidence.<\/p>\n
The victory capped an encouraging opening phase of the tournament for the Sapphires. Despite the narrow defeat to the USA, Australia showed resilience and continued growth across its three group-stage matches, developing greater consistency as the competition progressed.<\/p>\n
With the knockout stages now arriving, Garlepp believes the focus was on reinforcing the habits that have helped the team improve throughout the tournament.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the knockout stages here I think we have been trending upward to this point and rather than bailing any specific improvements we just want to consolidate our habits and be sure that those are what\u2019s guiding our play now that the fun starts,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Australia\u2019s strength throughout the group stage has been its balance, with several players stepping up in different moments. Madison Ryan has been one of the Sapphires\u2019 leading offensive contributors, providing scoring punch and versatility, while Olivia Olechnowicz, Jade Sherrington, Sophie Richardson and Matilda Trout have all played important roles in Australia\u2019s defensive intensity, ball movement and overall team structure.<\/p>\n
That collective approach has been one of the defining features of the Sapphires\u2019 campaign so far, with Australia\u2019s depth allowing the team to maintain its style and pressure regardless of who is on the floor.<\/p>\n
Standing between Australia and a place in the quarter-finals is Germany, with the two teams set to meet in the Round of 16 tonight at 7:30pm.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe now take on a tough German side who have good size and will look to disrupt us in a few different ways,\u201d Garlepp said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an exciting challenge and we will certainly respect them by giving them everything we have.\u201d<\/p>\n
Germany will provide a significant challenge, with the European side bringing size, athleticism and a physical style that will test the Sapphires on both ends of the floor. Frederike Askamp has been one of Germany\u2019s leading contributors during the tournament, providing an interior presence with her scoring and rebounding, while Nele Prowaznik\u2019s size gives Germany another important option around the basket.<\/p>\n
The Germans have also received valuable contributions from across their rotation, with Mia Wiegand, Linda Thimm, Lara Gierlich and Amelie Mbah among the players helping shape their attack and defensive intensity throughout the group stage. Germany\u2019s ability to use its size and create pressure defensively will be a key challenge for Australia as the Sapphires look to advance.<\/p>\n
For Australia, the challenge will be matching Germany\u2019s physicality while continuing to rely on the habits that have carried the team through the opening stage of the tournament. Maintaining defensive discipline, moving the ball effectively and staying composed against Germany\u2019s pressure will be crucial as the Sapphires chase a place in the quarter-finals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Australian Sapphires will take on Germany for a spot in the World Cup quarterfinals Australia has closed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":801452,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,85],"class_list":["post-801451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-basketball","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-basketball","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/801451","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=801451"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/801451\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/801452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=801451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=801451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=801451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}