Haruna Kasagi provided the stabilizing presence Denso badly needed to withstand Cheongju KB, 80-65, on Thursday night to stay unbeaten heading into the FIBA WBL Asia semi-finals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The former Japan youth team standout finished with 20 points, including 12 in the fourth as she almost single-handedly repelled the opposition after the Stars tried to come back from down 18 entering the frame.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She capped off her takeover with a dagger triple off a Mai Kawai assist, pushing their lead to 76-60 with 1:43 remaining which finally doused cold water to their WKBL counterparts’ rally once and for all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“She’s one of the players that we trust,” said head coach Vladimir Vuksanovic. “She scored the big shots because she was open. And that was a team effort; for her to be open, she executed well. She played well.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kasagi shot an excellent 8-for-10 from the floor, including a 3-of-4 clip from deep, and also had 3 rebounds and 3 steals as her efforts ultimately enabled the Iris to clinch the top spot in Group B with a clean 2-0 record.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With that, the W League champions have forged a showdown with the no. 2 team of Group A in Cathay Life in the Semi-Finals, set this Saturday, October 24, still at the Sree Kanteerava Indoor Stadium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“They’re a good team. They play strongly. I haven’t seen them much, but I saw that they’re really strong on the ball, they drive strong, they have two players inside that are very skilled,” said the Serbian mentor of the Tigers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“But, yeah, it’s the Semi-Finals. We expect to increase the pace of our basketball, they’re going to play the way they want, so we will see who will prevail. But it’s a good team,” Vuksanovic continued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maki Takada was the only other player in double figures for Denso with 12 points and 7 rebounds, as her steady presence amidst the team’s frenetic pace enabled the team to lead by as many as 23 points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We haven’t really watched a lot of film. But it’s not really about what they’re going to do; it’s about playing our basketball, if we can play up to our standards. That’s what we’re going to focus on,” said Takada.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cheongju, on the other hand, were led by Na Yunjeong with 15 points. Japanese reinforcement Sara Sakai backed her up with 12 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists as the tandem played a key role in their fourth-quarter attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With the loss, the Stars will head into the semi-finals as the no. 2 team of the group with a 1-1 record, and will be taking on inaugural WBL Asia champions Sichuan Yuanda Meile, the best team of Group A with 2-0 card.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sichuan Yuanda Meile swept their way into the semi-finals following a 94-73 blowout of Akari at the Sree Kanteerava Indoor Stadium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Pandas erupted for 30 points in the second canto to turn a narrow 3-point lead to a 53-33 spread entering the break, and the game would never be in doubt since as they cruised to their second win in as many games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With this solid follow-up to their 92-70 conquest of Cathay Life on opening day, the league’s inaugural champions have clinched the top spot in Group A and will be taking on the 2-seed of Group B in the ‘Final Four.’<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This result has also allowed the Tigers to secure a ticket to the next round, coming in as the second-best team of the pool with a 1-1 record, with their first win coming at the expense of the Philippine representative as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The semi-finals is gonna be tougher for us. I think today’s game helped our team a lot. It helped us to adapt and adjust to the intensity of games,” head coach Yang Yi said. “We’re excited for the semi-finals.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sara Blicavs continued her fine play and finished with 22 points, spiked by a 3-of-6 clip from beyond the arc, alongside 9 rebounds to lead all scorers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ditto with Chennedy Carter, with the WNBA veteran firing 21 points on top of 6 rebounds and 4 steals toward earning Player of the Game honors, as Sichuan leaned on their star combo in dimming the Sparks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the locals sure did their part as well, with seasoned forward Gao Song contributing 11 points and 6 rebounds. Su Yingying also chipped in 11 as the quartet headed the balanced attack in the lopsided victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“As far as the semi-finals is concerned, me and my team are looking forward to it,” Carter said. “We have a great coaching staff, a great club that’s gonna get us prepared and ready. I’m excited to play on the next day.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Saicha Grant-Allen led Akari with 22 points and 9 rebounds as they remained in search of a win in their maiden WBL Asia campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Stefanie Berberabe made 12 points, 3 rebounds, and 5 assists. Jhazmin Joson had 11 points while Bre’Amber Scott added 10 for the Sparks, who actually took a 16-14 lead early until the opposition caught its rhythm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Akari will try to finish their tournament on a high note when they take on the Indian Railways in the Classification 5-6 preceding the semi-finals on Saturday in a battle of teams eyeing to avoid a winless campaign.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Haruna Kasagi provided the stabilizing presence Denso badly needed to withstand Cheongju KB, 80-65, on Thursday night to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16963,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[52],"class_list":["post-16962","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsbeat","tag-basketball"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t