Alanna's strong finish leads Australia to the bronze

The Aussies put yesterday's defeat behind them and won the 2015 FIBA U19 Women's World Championship bronze medal with a strong game against Spain.

It looked like an easy win for the Aussies as they took an 18 point lead in the first quarter, but Spain crept back and cut the lead to three early in the third quarter – 45-42.

The scoring margin wavered between three and nine for the next 15 minutes. Both teams looked very tired and had trouble finding the basket.

With two minutes left to play and the score at 62-58, Alanna scored on a layup. At the one-minute mark, Spain and then Australia scored again. Then Spain turned the ball over with a foul, and that was effectively the end.

The final score was 69-62, and Australia had its second consecutive FIBA U19 bronze medal.

Alanna played her best game of the tournament — 20 points, 16 rebounds and five blocks. She made 50% of her 16 shots from the field and all of her four free throws.

For the seven games of the tournament, Alanna led her team in scoring (12.6 ppg) and blocks (2.4 bpg). She tied with Alexandra Sharp for the most rebounds (7.0 rpg) and with Tahlia Tupaea for the most steals (1.6 spg).

Of the 180 participating players, Alanna ranked #18 in scoring, #4 in blocks, #17 in rebounds and #25 in steals.

Here are:

• A game recap: Gems hold off fightback from Spain to land third place again
• The complete statistics,
• A photo gallery,
• A game highlights video, and
• The full game video.

The final game of the tournament was a fierce battle between two outstanding teams. The outcome was in doubt up until the last four minutes of the game, with the USA leading Russia by just three points, 68-65. Then the USA pulled ahead to a 78-70 victory and its sixth consecutive FIBA U19 gold medal. Story: USA spoil home party to land sixth straight U19 Women's Worlds title.

Alanna was named to the tournament All-Star-5, along with A'Ja Wilson (USA), Napheesa Collier (USA), Maria Vadeeva (Russia) and Daria Kolosovskaia (Russia). Wilson was named the Most Valuable Player.